#  Scale: A Matter of Perspective 

 



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   ![Scale Exhibit Banner](/sites/g/files/omnuum6316/files/styles/hwp_1_1__720x720_scale/public/chsi/files/scale_sm_banner.jpg?itok=2OlcjTRR) 

 

   ![Alice in Wonderland Illustration](/sites/g/files/omnuum6316/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/chsi/files/alice_in_wonderland_illustration.png?itok=17JQKNzi) 

 

*Scale: A Matter of Perspective* explored the concept of scale from multiple perspectives, including investigation of the cosmos with telescopes and microscopes, models that scale things up (e.g., molecular models, glass flowers, embryological models) and those that scale things down (e.g., celestial and terrestrial globes, or ethnographic dioramas of village life), scale in literature (such as Lewis Carroll's *Alice in Wonderland*), and social scale (Just how large *was* that crowd on the National Mall?).

   ![Bruce Telescope](/sites/g/files/omnuum6316/files/styles/hwp_1_1__720x720_scale/public/chsi/files/bruce_telescope.png?itok=S6AVDMAN) 

 

The central focus object is the optics of the 125-year-old Bruce photographic telescope (*right*), recently discovered and restored. Accompanying the Bruce lenses will be astronomical photographs on glass plates taken in Peru that were annotated by [**Henrietta Leavitt**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrietta_Swan_Leavitt), a “computer” at Harvard College Observatory, and her logbooks. Leavitt’s discovery of the period-luminosity relationship of Cepheid variable stars fundamentally altered our view of the scale of the universe. *Scale: A Matter of Perspective* examines the concept of scale and its power to transform perceptions of the universe and our place in it, inviting visitors to make connections to the world in surprising new ways.



 

**ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS**  
  
  
**HMSC Exhibition Team**

Sylvie Laborde (Project Manager & Senior Designer)  
Jennifer Berglund  
Don Bissex  
Tony Greaney  
Bill McCann  
Tristan Rocher  
James Skatges

  
**Telescope Restoration & Engineering**

Kenneth J. Launie  
Edmund Puches

**Support Generously Provided By**

David P. Wheatland Charitable Trust  
  
  
**In** **Recognition of the Unstinting Support of**  
**The Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments**

Peter Galison, Pellegrino University Professor and Faculty Director  
Jean-François Gauvin, Administrative Director  
Sara J. Schechner, David P. Wheatland Curator  
Sara Frankel, Collections Manager and Registrar  
Maureen Ton, Photographer and Designer  
Michael Kelley, Technology and Applications Coordinator  
Richard Wright, Curatorial Technician  
Karen Woodward Massey, Financial Associate  
Suzanne Sroka, Collection Management Assistant  
Michael Grasso, Digital Content Designer  
Kenneth Launie, Consulting Curatorial Engineer  
Martha Richardson, Collections Manager Emerita  
  
**Telescope Restoration & Engineering**

Kenneth J. Launie  
Edmund Puches

**Support Generously Provided By**

David P. Wheatland Charitable Trust

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**SCALE IN THE MEDIA**

  
[**Eye on the Cosmos**](/file_url/536), Harvard Magazine, Nov/Dec 2017

"[**Scale' tells the story of how, and what, we measure**](http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2017/04/harvard-museums-of-science-cultures-scale-tells-the-story-of-how-and-what-we-measure/)," Harvard Gazette, 4/18/17

[“**Scale: A Matter of Perspective” examines how scale stimulates mind, captivates imagination**"](http://dailyfreepress.com/2017/03/16/scale-a-matter-of-perspective-examines-how-scale-stimulates-mind-captivates-imagination/)  
The Daily Free Press, Boston University, 3/16/17

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**March 10 through December 10, 2017**



 

 



 

 See also:- [ Past Exhibitions ](/exhibition-status/past-exhibitions)