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| A POSSIBLE FORM OF ORGANIZATION FOR SUCH A SCIENCE MUSEUM A form of organization which could help fulfill the underlying purpose of the museum would involve introducing the various areas of science and technology with sections dealing with the psychology of perception and the artistry associated with the various areas of perception. One might, for example, have five main sections based respectively on hearing, on vision, on taste and smell, on the tactile sensations (including perception of hot and cold) and on propriosensitive controls which form the basis of balance, locomotion and manipulation. The section on hearing might be introduced with a collection of musical instruments. The tonal qualities of the instruments could be demonstrated or reproduced. There could be a section on various musical scales, followed by a section on everyday sounds and noises which could make people aware of the problems of sound recognition and memory. The details of auditory perception could then be explored with experiments on the frequency and loudness response range and on the determination of sound direction, etc. The thread could then divide in two. One part would explore the physics of sound, that is the study of vibrations, oscillations, resonance, interference and reflections. The other part would be the physiology and histology of the ear and the associated central nervous system. The final section would then elucidate the technology and the industrial techniques involved in sound reproduction, (thus introducing electronics) speaker and microphone construction, the acoustics of auditoriums and various devices such as hearing aids, telephones, radio, sonar, and the like. With the sense of vision one might start with painting and introduce the ideas of perspective and the effects involved in op-art and moiré patterns. One would move to experiments in the psychology of visual perception and then branch to the physics of light on the one hand and to the biology of the eye on the other. | These would each then lead to technology. The technology might include pigment manufacture, optical instruments, glass manufacture, television and photography, lighting, infrared and ultraviolet devices and lasers. It might even be appropriate to demonstrate the use of high energy radiation on biological tissue and other aspects of medical technology. One would proceed in a similar fashion with taste and smell starting with food and perfume, then developing some aspects of chemistry and ending with the vast and mysterious technology of the food and cosmetic industries. The fourth section would start with clothing and housing, pass through a section on perception of hot and cold and roughness, and then develop the physics of heat and lead to the section on industrial production of fibers and building materials. Finally, the section on control would involve dancing and athletics and various skills such as balancing rods on one's fingers or riding a bicycle. It would demonstrate the proprio-sensitive mechanisms of the body and would then branch to the mathematics of feedback mechanisms and the physiology of muscles and nerves and the semicircular canals, etc. and end up with the sophisticated technology of control mechanisms in industry and technology. This form of organization is but one of many possible plans for a museum. I believe it would capture the interest of many people and might provide a pattern which museums might wish to follow. However, although it seems essential that the museum be structured according to some underlying plan such as the one suggested above, it is also important that the people who use the museum not be forced to follow some preconceived pattern. In the proposed organization some people might be interested in following the domain of perception from one area to another. Some might remain rooted in just one area such as in the physics of sound or in food technology, whereas others may want to wander around the halls at random. | ||