Two new 'Franklin' exhibits take you to the stars

The Franklin Institute, now popularly called "The Franklin," is taking visitors from the dawn of man's exploration of the solar system to the opposite extreme, a celebration of a science fiction phenomenon, in two adjacent exhibits that remain at the Philadelphia museum through the fall. It's probably the quickest way you can span the centuries, going from the invention of the telescope to the imagining of interstellar travel in a single afternoon.

"Galileo, the Medici, and the Age of Astronomy," which runs through Sept. 7, features a dazzling array of portraits and astronomical instruments from the Italian Renaissance, including as its centerpiece a telescope built and signed by Galileo himself. It's the first time a Galileo telescope has ever left Italy.

Among the other scientific artifacts are many astrolabes devices used to navigate by marking the positions of various astronomical features), and the daily working tools used by artist Michelangelo. There are also many contemporary portraits of the members of Venice's ruling Medici family, who were patrons of the arts and scientific discovery in addition to being powerful leaders in government and business.

The Galileo exhibit was assembled by the museum that owns the treasures, the Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza.

To its credit, the Franklin is embracing new technologies in some interesting ways. Instead of renting visitors audio headsets that need to be tracked and inventoried, the museum is providing downloadable MP3 audio tours of the exhibit, recorded by its chief astronomer Derek Pitts, on its website at http://is.gd/1pQfA. Cell phone users can also dial a local (215) phone number to hear the audio programs. In a press tour last month, Pitts said he recorded the tour narrations at his dining room table at home.

A general audio tour of the exhibit runs about 34 minutes. A shorter, 14-minute commentary by Pitts focuses on the conflict between the Roman Catholic Church and scientists in Galileo's time. The astronomer was confined to house arrest by the Inquisition for his then-controversial observations that the Earth orbited the sun, rather than being at the center of the solar system.

At the other side of the museum is its Mandell Center, which houses "Star Trek: The Exhibition," until Sept. 20 (http://www.startrekexhibition.com/). If you are a fan of any one of the four TV series or the many movies, this is a fun way to immerse yourself in a collection of costumes, uniforms, alien makeup, scale models, and other memorabilia from the Enterprise and many other Federation vessels. The exhibit includes several video presentations describing some of the special effects and the artistic process behind the design of alien life forms and space travel uniforms, but glosses over some of the practical realities of TV and movie production.

For example, there's no mention of Gene Roddenberry's explanation for the famous Star Trek transporter beam. As Roddenberry used to explain it, the device allowed the producer to avoid expensive special effects required to show a space ship landing on a planet, something the original TV series couldn't afford.

But it was still fun to sit in Captain Jean-Luc Picard's chair on a replica of the bridge from "Star Trek: The Next Generation," and imagine myself saying "Engage!" to launch into warp drive.

There is also a full size display of a Star Trek sickbay loaded with instruments and sensors, many of which envisioned some of the telemetry now used routinely in hospitals and emergency rooms around the world.

There's more information about both exhibits on the Franklin's website. For Galileo exhibit information, visit http://is.gd/1pRjV. For the Star Trek exhibit hours, ticket information and other details, visit http://is.gd/1pRhl.

Thanks to the Greater Philadelphia Tourism and Marketing Corporation (www.gophila.com), members of the press got a special preview last month, and we were able to produce a short video tour of both of both exhibits, which you can see at www.compuschmooze.com and at http://www.jewishvoicesnj.org.  steve@lubetkin.net