The following provides descriptions, and in some cases photographs, of some of the major exhibits displayed at The Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science. A few of these exhibits were transferred to, and are now displayed in, The Carnegie Science Center. A few others remain in the Buhl Planetarium building.
Guide of 1987 July 27 to 31: Front (including building interior map) * Rear
50th Year Anniversary Guide - Summer, 1989: Front (including building interior map) * Rear
Buhl Planetarium Building Floor Plans and Technical Specifications
*
List of murals and exhibits in the Hall of the Universe
(From the Buhl Planetarium Annual Report, 1972-1973)
Buhl Planetarium’s Hall
of the Universe included twenty-one classic, "push-button"
display-case exhibits (Astronomy: eighteen exhibits; Meteorology: three
exhibits). The following five Astronomy exhibits are documented as being in
Buhl Planetarium’ s, originally-titled, Hall
of Astronomy, on the date of building dedication, and hence, are the
property of the City of Pittsburgh:
a) Stars do Move
– Demonstrating
precession, with changes in the
star configuration of the Big Dipper over 200,000 years of time as an example.
b) Twin Stars – Showing movement of a binary star system.
c) Light Takes
Time to Travel – Regarding the speed of light.
d) Tycho Brahe’s
Mural Quadrant - Animated Diorama of Tycho Brahe's Observatory in
e) Observatory
of Hevelius at Danzig - Animated Diorama of Johannes Hevelius' Observatory in
*
Aurora Borealis: The Northern Lights
(5)
* Earth and Comet - from the Moon (repainted in 1970 June):
Photo 1 (5) ***
Photo 2
Lunar landscape with Halley's Comet passing the Earth.
*
Billions of Suns - Our Galaxy and Its Neighbors (5)
* Eclipse of the Moon
Lunar eclipse of 1492, during Columbus' arrival in the Caribbean.
* Eclipse of the Sun:
Photo 1 (5) ***
Photo 2
Depicts solar eclipse during the war between the Lydians and the Medes.
*
The Great Nebula in Orion (5)
Orion Nebula, visible during the reign of the Roman Empire.
* The Great Globular Star Cluster in Hercules
Star cluster that occurred during prehistoric times.
Note that these first seven murals were painted, using black-light paint, by Benjamin Byrer, a native of Canton, Ohio. After being displayed in the Hall of the Universe at Pittsburgh's original Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science, from the mid-1950s through the mid-1980s, they were donated to the Hoover-Price Planetarium in Canton, Ohio in 1994.
* The Sun and Its Nine Planets: Photo 1 *** Photo 2 with Info
Unlike the seven other murals, "The Sun and Its Nine Planets" consisted of cardboard cut-outs of the nine planets mounted on the rear (north) wall of the Hall of the Universe, above a huge painting of a small portion of the Sun.
In the mid-1980s, Buhl Planetarium management decided to use the Hall of the Universe for a
new thematic exhibit on light, perception, and optics. This was the first of a series of three major exhibitions. The other two:
* "Sounds Sensational" - Regarding sound, which was also displayed in the East Gallery and the western section of the Great Hall. For this exhibit, as well as the earlier second light and perception exhibit, the
Tesla Coil dismantled from its long-time location in the Great Hall and stored (not functional) in the southeast corner of the
Little Science Theater (this occurred in the mid-1980s). From time-to-time, Tesla Coil enthusiasts (often members of Tesla Coil clubs) would come to see Buhl Planetarium's Tesla Coil and were disappointed to see it in storage.
The Tesla Coil was restored to operation, in its original location in the western section of the Great Hall, about a year (1990) before the opening of The Carnegie Science Center (where plans were to display the Tesla Coil in "The Works Theater" on the fourth floor, along with the large
Van de Graaff electrostatic generator and other presentations on electricity); however, to prevent damage to computers and other sensitive electronic instruments now in Buhl Planetarium, a Faraday Cage was built to house the Tesla Coil.
* "The Right Moves" - Exhibited in the Octagon Gallery (not including the space used by the Computer Learning Lab; also a small environmental exhibit was displayed in the lobby, at the bottom of the stairs from the Mezzanine Gallery, of "The Right Moves" exhibit.). This exhibit included a "pitching cage," where the speed of pitched baseballs was measured by a radar-gun, and a stationary bicycle that used air, from pedeling, to raise a large "beachball;" this exhibit was installed about a year after Duquesne Light Company technicians were directed to remove their long-time stationary bicycle exhibit (which used pedeling to light several light bulbs of different wattages) from the Mezzanine Gallery.
The Hall of the Universe classic, push-button exhibits were permanently moved to the hallways surrounding the planetarium (creating what could have been referred to as a "hallway of the universe"), where they had been located, from time-to-time, when the Hall of the Universe had been temporarily used for annual exhibitions such as the Pittsburgh Regional School Science and Engieering Fair and the Tropical Fish Show. These exhibits derived electrical power from the "light-boxes" in the planetarium hallway walls, which had displayed black-and-white photographic plates of astronomical photographs. Regrettably, the push-button exhibits blocked viewing these light-box photographs.
The Sun and Its Nine Planets mural was dismantled. It is unknown what happened to the cardboard cut-outs of the planets (although they were seen in a Planetarium hallway storage closet, for a while). The partial painting of the Sun, on the wall, was simply painted-over.
The other seven murals were simply placed in storage (at first, in the upper rafters of the Octagon Gallery, just east of the steps leading to the Mezzanine). until they were given back to the artist, after the complete closing of the original Buhl Planetarium building (then used as a tutorial center, from 1991 to 1994, to teach Carnegie Science Center Science and Computer classes, called the Allegheny Square Annex of The Carnegie Science Center, until Science Center classes were consolidated into the new Science Center building and the original Buhl Planetarium building was abandoned in February of 1994) in 1994. The artist, Benjamin Byrer, then donated the murals to the Hoover-Price Planetarium in his native Canton, Ohio. These murals now hang in the Planetarium's Jane Williams Mahoney Mezzanine.
Originally, the rumor had been that these murals had been moved to the Youth Museum of Southern West Virginia in Beckley, West Virginia. However, Kent State University Physics and Astronomy Professor Francis G. Graham [Founder of the American Lunar Society, who had been a long-time Planetarium Lecturer in the original Buhl Planetarium] found these murals when visiting the Canton planetarium.
Each year, Mr. Byrer also displayed his "Barnwood Paintings" in Buhl Planetarium's Mezzanine Gallery, at the entrance to the very popular annual exhibition of the Miniature Railroad and Village, displayed in the Bowdish Gallery from November through February.
Now, this new exhibit on light, perception, and optics in the Hall of the Universe, which was renamed the East Gallery, should not to be confused with the similar thematic exhibit, "Image/Imagination," which had been installed in the western section of the first floor's Great Hall a few years earlier, in 1983. Image/Imagination had replaced the colorful, backlit PPG Industries "Masterpieces in Glass" exhibit (which was given back to PPG, possibly for installation in their just-built 40-floor office tower Downtown), which had included a glass version of a Picasso masterpiece. Other exhibits in this area were moved elsewhere or placed in storage. The long-time PPG optical illution exhibit, "The Phantom Planet," was moved to be adjacent to Image/Imagination.
* Hoover-Price Planetarium, Canton, Ohio - New home of original Hall of the Universe murals.
* Photographs of the Hall of the Universe:
* Description and other
information - Aide's Book, Copy 8,
pages
24,
25,
26,
27,
51,
56, and
57.
* Description and other
information - Aide's Book, Copy 25,
pages
16,
17,
18, and
19.
* Photograph of
Exhibits Staff offices, on temporary balcony erected in the East Gallery, during planning and construction of The Carnegie Science Center.
Eclipse of the Sun / Solar Eclipse: Tips For Safe Viewing
This exhibit was sponsored by PPG Industries Incorporated, which removed all of these masterpieces in 1979 or 1982. It is believed that these masterpieces were later used in the PPG Place Tower and office complex, constructed near Market Square in 1984.
Gemmaux masterpieces included titles such as "La Petite Corbeille," "La Petite Aquarium," "Bouquet," "Voiles Heureceuses," and "Orphee Aux Feuillages."
* Description and other information - Aide's Reference Manual, 1983 February 28, pages 20, 21, and 22.
* Photographs of entrance to Image/Imagination:
**
Entrance shown in bottom of photo; large
Mercator's Projection World Map shown above.
**
Entrance shown extreme right of photo; Discovery Gift Shop shown in center of photo.
Image/Imagination was installed as a permanent exihibit in 1983, after the successful run of an Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC) traveling exhibit, from the Exploratorium in San Francisco, called "Looking at The Light,", which was viewed in Buhl Planetarium's Octagon Gallery in January and February of 1982.
Image/Imagination should not be confused with a second light and perception exhibit exhibited in the mid-1980s.
In addition to the original modules of "Image/Imagination," one earlier exhibit was incorporated as an additional module of "Image/Imagination." "The Phantom Planet" consisted of a parabolic mirror and a light source, in such a configuration in a large box thus that it appeared that the image of a "planet' (i.e. small ball made to look like a planet) was suspended in mid-air. Children would try to grab the "planet," but find that their fingers went right through the image. Then, they could look down into the box to see the actual object ("planet").
"Image/Imagination" was funded by the Spectroscopy Society of Pittsburgh and the Society of Analytical Chemists of Pittsburgh. "The Phantom Planet" had been funded by the PPG Industries Foundation.
* Meteorites Displayed in Hall of the Universe Diorama, at the entrance to the Hall of the Universe, which displayed large meteorite and two smaller meteorites, all from the Barringer Meteor Crater in Arizona. Later, the large meteorite was displayed outside of the diorama, so visitors could touch it; the two smaller meteorites were placed in storage.
*
Description and other information
* Photograph
of Buhl meteorite specimen at The Carnegie Science Center
*
Other Meteorites displayed in
the Hillman Hall of Minerals and Gems of The Carnegie Museum of Natural
History.
The Carnegie Science Center did not propose moving the mural to the new Science Center building {as they proposed for the other three artifacts}. Actually, this is the second time that the Science Center management decided not to display this mural in the new Science Center building. When the new Science Center building was being constructed, it was decided to leave the mural in the original Buhl Planetarium building, which was then planned to be used as a tutorial center (and retitled "Carnegie Science Center, Allegheny Square Annex"), home to the Science Center's Science and Computer classes (as the new building, originally, was built without classroom space). One Buhl Planetarium visitor was quite upset when she learned that the Nat Youngblood mural would not be moved to the new building; she made her displeasure known to Science Center management. However, Science Center Director Alphonse DeSena felt (and he said so) that if this woman wanted the mural moved to the new Science Center building so badly, she should pay for it, or find funding to pay for such a move.
Through an agreement with the City of Pittsburgh (legal owner of this mural), two sections of this mural were one of the highlights on display (for three months, beginning 2005 March 11, each Monday through Saturday from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.; suggested donation was three dollars per adult) in the new "Reel Steel" exhibit, in the third floor exhibit gallery of the Rivers of Steel Heritage Area/Museum's Bost Building in Homestead, Pennsylvania (a suburb just south of Pittsburgh, across the Monongahela River from the City neighborhoods of Squirrel Hill, Greenfield, Duck Hollow, and the new neighborhood of Summerset at Frick Park). In an agreement with the City of Pittsburgh, it is being preserved by the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area until it can be fully restored.
Also, seats from the Buhl Planetarium's Theater of the Stars (removed from Buhl Planetarium in 2002, at the beginning of the Children's Museum renovation project) are used in this third floor exhibit gallery, for films and cartoons (starring characters such as Donald Duck and Joe Magarac) regarding the history of the steel industry.
Painting - Comet Halley:
Image 1 ***
Image 2
This painting of Halley's Comet was purchased in England by
Willard F. Rockwell, Jr., then Founder and Chairman of the fairly new Pittsburgh-based (Two Chatham Center) aerospace corporation called Astrotech International; Mr. Rockwell had formerly been Chairman of Rockwell International which was based in Pittsburgh for many years (50th floor of the U.S. Steel Building, after several years in the 24-floor North American Rockwell Building at Fifth Avenue and Wood Street--originally the Farmers' National Bank Building--which was later demolished for construction of a four-floor Lazarus Department Store), until the 1990s.
Willard F. Rockwell, Jr. found this painting in England in 1985 (at the time of the 1985-1986 passing of Halley's Comet through the inner Solar System). He was so impressed with the painting, he bought it with the intention of donating it to Buhl Planetarium. And, so he did; in fact, it was transported to Buhl Planetarium in Mr. Rockewll's limousine !
However, this painting did not appeal to the management of Buhl Planetarium. Of course, they were not going to reject such a generous gift, particularly from a corporate leader who headed a local aerospace firm. So, they instructed Jane Werner (who would become Head of the Exhibits Department in 1987 January; in 2004, she was Executive Director of the Children's Museum, when that museum began utilizing the Buhl Planetarium building) to mount the painting in the Little Science Theater/Lecture Hall, apparently where most members of management would not have to see it on a regular basis! It was purposely forgotten, when the Science Center management moved to The Carnegie Science Center in 1991. So, it remained in the Little Science Theater until the Children's Museum renovated that space into a new exhibit gallery in 2004.
When the City of Pittsburgh took an inventory of their Buhl Planetarium assets, on 2002 January 23, this was inventoried as "Asset #21 Painting Comet" with "Photo #19 [original photograph: 453x353x16M jpeg]" on Page 22 of the "Buhl Planetaruim Assets" inventory book.
The Foucault Pendulum is one of the original exhibits [and, was one of Buhl's "talking exhibits"] in The Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science, on display when the building and all contents were dedicated and gifted to the City of Pittsburgh by the Buhl Foundation on 1939 October 24. It continued on display to the public until the building closed as a public museum on 1991 August 31. However, as the Buhl Planetarium building continued to be utilized for the Science and Computer classes of The Carnegie Science Center, the Foucault Pendulum continued on display to the students of these classes and their families until the building was completely closed in February of 1994.
In the mid-1990s, the Foucault Pendulum was placed on public display in a new Pendulum exhibit, in the eastern section of the second floor of The Carnegie Science Center; the original Pendulum Pit remained at Buhl Planetarium. In October of 2002, the Foucault Pendulum was returned to the Great Hall of Buhl Planetarium. The Foucault Pendulum resumed public display, surrounded by a traveling exhibit entitled, "Can You Tell Me How To Get to Sesame Street?", on 2003 February 15, under the auspices of the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh.
Famous French physicist Jean Bernard Leon Foucault developed the Foucault Pendulum in 1851. Foucault also developed the siderostat-type telescope, the primary instrument of The People's Observatory, Buhl Planetarium's Astronomical Observatory.
* Images at
The Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science:
Summer "Solstice Day" Annual Event -
During most of the 1980s and early 1990s, the Buhl Science Center ("modernized" name for The Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science, used from 1982 February through 1991 August) held a major celebration, on the day of the Summer Solstice (the first official day of Summer: June 21), both inside the building and on the Allegheny Square Plaza outside of the building. This "Solstice Day" event was the one day of the year when admission, into the Buhl Science Center (including Buhl Planetarium shows and all exhibits and programs), was free-of-charge to the public.
Actually, admission to the building during the first year of this event was free-of-charge, when the visitor attended bringing with them a real snowball! During the Winter months, Buhl asked people to save one or more snowballs in their freezer and then bring the snowball(s) to Buhl on June 21 for free admission to the event and Science Center. The promotion was quite successful, with quite a few people bringing snowballs to Buhl Planetarium on the day of the Summer Solstice.
In subsequent years, admission to the building for this event was free-of-charge for everyone, as the Summer Solstice became Buhl Planetarium's one free day of the year. Even after a snowball was not required for free admission on June 21, several people continued bringing snowballs on "Solstice Day."
One of the fun events, on the Allegheny Square Plaza just outside of Buhl's front doors, was the weighing and determining the scientific composition of the snowballs:
Beginning in 2007, The Carnegie Science Center decided to reuse this original Buhl Planetarium promotion. Click here to learn more about The Carnegie Science Center's reuse of the original Buhl Planetarium "Snowballs on Summer Solstice Day" promotion.
During the early 1970s, a Picture Phone exhibit was displayed at Buhl Planetarium. This was part of Bell Telephone's unveiling of commercial Picture Phone service, which first started in Pittsburgh and Chicago. WJAS-AM 1320, then a news/talk radio station owned by NBC, helped Bell Telephone unveil this service to the public; at that time a Picture Phone [which could be seen from the street, in the the radio station's second floor studios in the Kossman Building, Stanwix Street at Forbes Avenue in Downtown Pittsburgh] was used during their radio talk shows. At Buhl Planetarium, two Picture Phone booths allowed a patron to see (in black-and-white; real-time, not slow-scan as some color video phones are today), as well as hear, a friend or family member in the adjacent booth.
* Early Telephone Exhibit:
Voice Mirror - This exhibit from the 1960s was updated in the 1970s.
* Telephone Tours - Description and
other information - Aide's Book, Copy 8, pages
40,
41,
42,
43,
46, and
47.
* Click here to learn more
about the telephone's inventor, Alexander Graham Bell.
* Photograph of students demonstrating their home-made Tesla Coil, at the Pittsburgh Regional School Science and Engineering Fair held at Buhl Planetarium in the Spring of 1955. This photograph was taken from a book titled, Theater of the Stars, published on 1956 February 1.
* 2007 June 7- BBC:
Wireless energy promise powers up
A clean-cut vision of a future freed from the rat's nest of cables
to power today's electronic gadgets has come one step closer to reality.
By Jonathan Fildes
First envisioned by Nikola Tesla, inventor of the
Tesla Coil.
Transpara had a specially-built home (closet, specially-built at the front east corner of the Little Science Theater) in the Lecture Hall. When wheeled-out of her home, she would give her presentations on the west side of the small stage's Laboratory Table and Sink.
In the very early stages of planning for The Carnegie Science Center Buhl Planetarium Program Director Alphonse DeSena, Ph.D. asked the author to show him how Transpara operated, for possible inclusion in the exhibitry for the new science center. Instead of being a presentation in an auditorium, as Buhl Planetarium used Transpara, it was proposed to have Transpara become a stand-alone, patron-actuated exhibit, where the visitor could push a button to see a certain human organ light-up and hear a brief explanation of that organ.
At some point, the decision was made not to use Transpara in the new science center. It is the author's understanding that, shortly after the opening of the new Science Center building on 1991 October 5, Transpara was sold to the Health Museum of Cleveland for spare parts for their Museum's icon exhibit, Juno the Transparent Talking Woman, which had been introduced with the Museum's permanent exhibits in 1950. The Cleveland Health Museum changed their name to HealthSpace Cleveland a few years ago. On 2007 January 1, HealthSpace merged with the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and their programs, including Juno, moved to the Museum of Natural History's recently expanded building in University Circle. All of the Health Museum's real estate properties were sold to the Cleveland Clinic.
In correspondence (electronic mail: 2007 July 23) with Thomas M. Bills, Health Education Coordinator and Junior Medical Camp Coordinator of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, it was learned that Transpara is currently stored off-site from the Museum along with the original Juno transparent model, while the second Juno transparent model is displayed at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. According to Mr. Bills, Transpara's tape recorder no longer exists, and Transpara is currently being held together with masking tape, as the glue in her plexiglass has degraded and the pieces were falling apart.
Plans are to keep all three transparent models (Transpara and the two Juno models) together in Cleveland, as they, according to Mr. Bills, "are historically significant models, especially in relation to Nazi Germany and the eugenics movement." The eugenics movement was also prominent even in America at the beginning of the twentieth century. Pittsburgh Astronomer and telescope manufacturer John A. Brashear, along with Pittsburgh's Academy of Science and Art, investigated the practicality of implementing scientific eugenics around 1911.
*
Picture of Buhl Planetarium's Transpara, from 1970s animated booklet for children,
The Mysterious Universe, Noted. A short review of discovery., which described Buhl Planetarium exhibits and programs.
* Transpara description and other information -
Aide's Reference Manual: February 28, 1983:
Page 25 ***
Page 26
*
Photograph of Juno the Transparent Talking Woman, an exhibit of HealthSpace now at the
Cleveland Museum of Natural History.
* Controversial
Bodies traveling exhibit of human cadavers at The Carnegie Science Center (2007 to 2008)
** Walsh, Glenn A.
Letter-to-the-Editor:
"Demanding transparency from local museum." (Second of two letters on web page)
Pittsburgh City Paper 2008 March 19.
Regarding current Carnegie Science Center
"Bodies" exhibition,
and the sale, in the 1990s, of
original Buhl Planetarium
human-anatomy exhibit,
"Transpara," to the Cleveland Health Museum to be used as spare parts
for their transparent woman exhibit.
** 2007 Oct. 3 - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:
Column: Mike Seate
The anatomy of controversy and cold-hard cash
Includes reference to his childhood toy, Transparra, The Visible Woman, a 14-inch plastic model of the female body.
* Images of "Sparky," having his hair stand-on-end, when placed on Buhl's original Van de Graaff Electrostatic Generator:
The public was invited to come-up and have their own "hair-raising" event with the Van de Graaff generator. Also, packing-peanuts, in the demonstrator's closed hand while his other hand was on an operating Van de Graaff, would fly-off into the audience when the demonstrator's hand was opened.
Often for the finale, the presenter would invite the audience to hold hands, forming a human chain; the presenter, while having one hand on an operating Van de Graaff, would then use his other hand to touch the hand of one member of the audience, and the electric charge would be transmitted through the entire human chain! Of course each member of the audience would feel a moderate shock; the tighter hands were held together (hence, making it easier to transmit the electric charge from one person to another), the less of a shock that would be felt. The demonstrator cautioned anyone with heart problems or a pace-maker not to participate in the human chain; and, the presenter suggested that digital wrist-watches, cell-phones, or other electronic devices should not be on the person while he or she was participating in the human chain (as the electric charge could damage these devices).
The original Buhl Planetarium Van de Graaff Electrostatic Generator was of a moderate size and was located in different exhibit galleries, from time-to-time. Later on, it was placed on wheels so it could be moved to where-ever the demonstrator wished to do the demonstration. In the last few years of Buhl Planetarium's operation, demonstrations were held in the "Little Science Theater" (Lecture Hall).
* Description and other information - Aide's Book, Copy 8, pages 22, 23, 44, and 45.
In the mid-1980s, long after
the original weather instruments had been retired, a small weather station
was installed just outside of the west doors to the third floor
Astronomical Observatory(and just east of the door to the Observatory's
west outdoor wing). This small weather station was dismantled after a
couple of years(prior to the viewing of Halley's Comet in 1985-1986). This compact
custom-made, weather station unit was originally purchased for use by
the Weather course in Buhl's Science Academy for children[the
author attended the weekly, Saturday
morning version of this class, in the Lab 2 classroom, in the late 1960s]. By the early 1980s, this course was no
longer offered; hence, Buhl Planetarium Director Paul Oles[whose primary degree is in
Meterology; he is now Executive Director of the San Bernadino County Museums in California] decided to install this small weather station[which had been in storage in the
Science Academy storage room(Previously this room was the Lab 2 classroom, next to the elevator for the
disabled. Since Lab 2 has access to water and other utilities, Buhl Program Director
Alphonse DeSena, Ph.D.[who later became Director of the Buhl Science Center, and then The Carnegie Science Center, before helping construct the new Exploration Place in Wichita, Kansas as their Executive Director] had planned to
convert this room back to a classroom; these plans were abandoned once plans for construction
of
The Carnegie Science Center were firmed-up)]. This weather station unit only gave a temperature reading at the site of the instruments--inside
the building(no thermometer or sensor was placed outside of the
building). An anemometer and wind-weather vane were placed on a pipe near the Observatory's
sliding roof.
* Aerology Exhibit - Aide's Book, Copy
8, pages
28,
29,
30,
31,
32,
33,
34, and
35.
* Weather Exhibits - Aide's Book,
Copy 8, pages
64,
65,
66,
67,
68, and
69.
* Weather Instruments - Aide's
Book, Copy 8, pages
67 and
68.
"Wonder of Wonders," was carefully explained to children by a teacher who was a registered nurse (Maxine Kelanic was the instructor during the 1980s and early 1990s). Prior to any visit of a school group to "Wonder of Wonders," a special presentation of the program (usually scheduled in the evening) was arranged for the parents of children who were scheduled to see the program. Although parents had the right to exclude their child from seeing the program, this seldom happened. Occasionally, this program would be offered to the general public. However, it was primarily a program offered to school groups.
* Description and other information - Aide's Reference Manual: February 28, 1983: Page 27
Orginally, Buhl Planetarium staff members were told that Rand McNally did not permit any staff member or member of the general public to photograph this World Globe, as it is considered a "work of art." However, no documentation can be found for this claim, so the following is a photograph of Buhl Planetarium's original Rand McNally Geo-Physical Relief Globe, as it was displayed on the fourth floor of The Carnegie Science Center several years ago:
* Photograph
at
The Carnegie Science Center
* Description and other
information - Aide's Book, Copy 25,
pages
8 and
9.
In 1983, the World Globe was moved from the western side of the first floor's Great Hall to the center of the Great Hall, near the front doors, to make room for the new Image/Imagination exhibit.
The large Mercator's Projection Map of the World was displayed at the 1939-1940 World's Fair by the U.S. Maritime Commission. Hence, on the map were small lights that designated all of the world's major seaports. After the World's Fair closed in October of 1940, this map, along with a large mural on steel manufacturing (from the United States Steel Corporation Pavillion) were moved to Pittsburgh's Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science for permanent display (several corporations which sponsored exhibits at the World's Fair, including U.S. Steel, were headquartered in Pittsburgh).
In the 1960s, the original steel manufacturing mural from the 1939 World's Fair was painted-over by Pittsburgh-area artist Nat Youngblood for a new "The Rise of Steel Technology" mural, which was commissioned by U.S. Steel (some Buhl staff members, including long-time Floor Manager John Miller, were quite upset with the loss of the original steel manufacturing mural).
The large Mercator's Projection Map of the World was displayed along the west wall of the first floor's Great Hall; this map nearly filled the west wall. The lighted seaports continued to be displayed on the Mercator's Projection Map of the World from 1940 until the mid-1980s. At that time, Buhl management decided to simply leave the seaports unlit, even though most of the lights were still usable.
A large 1960s-era jet passenger airplane was displayed, high in the air, close to the Mercator's Map, from the 1960s until 1983. Also, at the bottom of the Mercator's Map, several clocks (about a dozen) displayed the correct time (Standard Time; usually, the clocks were not advanced during Daylight Saving Time) for locations throughout the world; each clock located below the approximate time zone for the time indicated on the clock. This also lasted from the 1960s until 1983.
A large Rand McNally Geo-Physical Relief Globe also was exhibited near the Mercator's Map, until the Image/Imagination exhibit on light and perception was installed in that location in mid-1983. The World Globe was, then, moved around to several different locations, in succeeding years, in the first floor's Great Hall.
Both the large Mercator's Projection Map of the World and the steel industry mural (first the original mural, then the "The Rise of Steel Technology" mural) were displayed in Buhl Planetarium from 1940 until the building was completely closed in February of 1994. Both murals (i.e. Mercator's Map and U.S. Steel mural) were dismantled and removed from the Buhl Planetarium building in October of 2002, at the insistence of the management of the Pittsburgh Children's Museum, which started using the Buhl Planetarium building as a part of the Children's Museum in November of 2004.
* Images:
Image 1 ***
Image 2 ***
Image 3 ***
Image 4 ***
Image 5
Close-up Image
*
Photograph [published 1956 February 1] showing a seventh grade class, touring Buhl
Planetarium, interacting with the tour guide at the large Mercator's Projection Map of the
World.
* Description and other
information - Aide's Book, Copy 8, pages
52,
53,
64,
65, and
66.
* Description and other
information - Aide's Book, Copy 25
pages
32,
33,
34,
35, and
36.
Astronomical Observatory: The People's Observatory
Glass Display Case From Original Sales Counter
Ten-inch, Siderostat-type, Refractor Telescope - The second largest Siderostat-type telescope in existence(third largest which ever existed).
Large World Map - Originally created by the U.S. Maritime Commission for the 1939 World's Fair in New York City, at the time of creation it was considered the largest Mercator's Projection Map in the world! This map is currently displayed along the western wall of the first floor's Great Hall.
U.S. Steel Mural - This large mural, attached to the southern wall of the first floor's Great Hall, depicts the rise of technology. A special lighting system for this mural exists, with the control unit located in the former office of Buhl's Discovery gift shop.
Painting of Halley's Comet - This painting, from Great Britain, was donated to Buhl in 1986 by the late Willard F. Rockwell, Jr., former Chairman of Rockwell International Corporation and Founder of Astrotech International Corporation(the painting was transported to Buhl in Mr. Rockwell's limousine!). This painting is currently located on the eastern wall of the Lecture Hall (a.k.a. Little Science Theater); it could be moved elsewhere.
Epideoscope - Antique, overhead-type projector, with microscope,
used for Buhl's
first Life
Sciences public presentation, "The Micro Zoo." It is unknown whether this
projector still operates. It is currently located in the Lecture Hall,
but it could be displayed elsewhere.
* Description and other
information - Aide's Book, Copy 8, page
82.
Oscilloscope - Large older model, used for presentations in the Lecture Hall; it could be used and displayed elsewhere.
Beautiful brass and marble pit displaying the true cardinal points of the compass - Originally used to display the Foucault Pendulum, it still displays the cardinal points of the compass.
Grand Clock - This clock, which still operates, greets the public as they enter the building's front doors; its control unit is located on the second floor.
Beautiful Wood-Paneled Library - This is located on the building's second floor.
Lecture Hall Science Table - This is located in the front of the Lecture Hall and is still usable for any type of science presentation.
Lighted Picture Displays - Several lighted picture display cases exist, either imbedded into the wall(Planetarium hallway) or mounted on the wall(Observatory); any type of picture can be displayed.
Rainbow Wallpaper - Wallpaper which refracts light, at the entrance to the East Gallery.
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