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Ongoing Exhibits

CONNEXIONS-
The Plugged-in World of Communications

Presented by Bell Canada

Make a special visit to the Museum to see our major exhibit on communications. It is the largest exhibit of its kind in Canada, illustrating the history of electric and electronic communications in Canada. We use our rich collection of artifacts to show how our modes of communications have evolved through the 19th and 20th centuries and will continue to evolve in the future! Explore the evolution of communications through the telegraph, telephone, radiocommunications, radio and TV broadcasting, and discover the lives of Canadian inventors such as Alexander Graham Bell and Reginald Fessenden. Come see technology you might not have tried before, such as Virtual Reality, the CD-ROM, SchoolNet, the Vista phone, the Fax machine, Video Conferencing !

More than a Machine

MORE THAN A MACHINE -
THE MOTOR VEHICLE IN CANADA, 1900-1930

Do you know how the car was invented? See the odd combinations developed early this century: a steam buggy (the Locomobile), a 1908 electric car, a 1914 Indian motorcycle, a 1920 Ward electric truck, a 1921 double-decker bus, and the elegant Buick-McLaughlin used by the Prince of Wales in 1927.

Canada in Space

CANADA IN SPACE: DESTINATION EARTH

What do the aurora borealis, rockets, Apollo 7, the Canadarm, and Roberta Bondar all have in common? They are all part of the greatest adventure of our times: the exploration of space. Visit the Museum's major exhibit and discover the story of Canada's involvement in space as the third space-faring nation in the world.
 
The exhibit is being renovated to include updates on various space tools such as Radarsat, MSAT, the Canadarm and the International Space Station Alpha, plus a brand new space flight simulator -- the SimEx Virtual Voyages™ -- to enhance the visitors' experience. The renovated areas are scheduled to be open to the public on December 13, 1996.
 
 
Love, Leisure, and Laundry

LOVE, LEISURE AND LAUNDRY -
Why housework won't go away

A major exhibit on Domestic Technology

The gradual introduction of new technologies into the home changed the ways we perform housework. Discover the impact electricity and other services have had on routine tasks, from the turn of the century to today. Watch a demonstration of an early washing machine and learn how electricity was sold to farmers. Find out what consequences these changes brought to family life. And have a peek at what the future home will look like. The focus of this long-term exhibit is on the evolution of domestic appliances and their impact on gender roles in the home, in particular on the role of women.


October 9: OPENING OF "EYE SPY" EXHIBIT (until September 27, 1998)

Do you know when the camera was first used for espionage? Or that ties, hats and watches can have concealed clicking cameras? Find out about covert photography, what it is used for and how to locate a hidden camera. You'll learn how photography has evolved and discover its various uses, from gaining business intelligence to ensuring security or providing interesting novelties.


LOG ON: (until 1999)


Cross the Museum in a diagonal direction to "Log On". You'll find a room full of PC and Macintosh computers, an "Internet Café" (no coffee, but what a menu!) and exhibits showing the rapid evolution of computers from lab to lap, big to small, slow to fast, expensive to affordable. Try out all kinds of software and Cds and surf the Internet. You've never done it? Now's the time to try! And there's always something new!


CANADIAN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING HALL OF FAME :
(Long Term Exhibit)


This gallery comprised of portraits and short biographies honours Canadians who have made outstanding contributions to science and engineering over a long period of time. The Hall of Fame was established in 1991 to celebrate Canadian achievements and promote careers in science, engineering and technology.


CURRENTS OF CHANGE: (Long term exhibit)


This captivating exhibit spotlights the science of navigation and the evolution of marine technology over the years. It displays a range of artifacts and objects including 14 models of vessels dating from the 1800s to the present, parts of real ships and actual objects used by sailors, navigational instruments as old as an astrolabe, objects excavated from the wreck of the Machault (1758), an opposed piston Doxford deisel marine engine (ca 1930), and an interactive inviting you to "Take Command" of a Canadian Coast Guard ship navigating through ice fields.


LOCOMOTIVE HALL: (Long term exhibit)


The Locomotive Hall contains four huge steam locomotives, some of which allow access to the cabs, a caboose, a business car, number boards, and computerized questions and answers about Canadian railways. Sound effects give the feeling of live locomotives. The engines are meticulously restored, with polished rods and with lighted number boards and class lights.

 



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