MIT Museum facts for kids
The MIT Museum's new building, 2024
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| Established | 1971 |
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| Location | Cambridge, Massachusetts |
| Type | Science museum |
| Accreditation | AAM, ASTC |
| Collection size | 1,500,000 |
| Owner | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) |
| Public transit access | Kendall/MIT MBTA Red Line station |
The MIT Museum is a cool place that shows off the amazing work done at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). It opened in 1971 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The museum helps everyone understand the exciting things happening at MIT.
You can explore collections about holography (3D images made with light), art that uses technology, artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and the history of MIT. It even has the world's largest collection of holograms! You'll also see fun moving art by kinetic artist Arthur Ganson. The museum often has special exhibits that mix art and technology.
In October 2022, the MIT Museum moved to a brand-new, bigger building in Kendall Square. This new space makes it even easier for visitors to explore and learn.
Contents
Discovering the Museum's Story
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The MIT Museum started in 1971. It was first called "Historical Collections." Its main goal was to gather and protect important items and papers from MIT's past. In 1980, it became the "MIT Museum." That's when it began creating exhibits and learning programs for everyone.
Since 2005, the museum's goal has been to share MIT's science, technology, and other studies with the world. This helps people understand how MIT's work can benefit everyone.
The museum is led by MIT Professor John Durant. He also teaches about how to create science exhibits. He helps scientists and engineers share their ideas with the public. The museum is recognized by important groups like the American Alliance of Museums.
Exploring the New Building
The MIT Museum used to be in an old radio factory. But in 2020, it closed to move to a new spot. It reopened in October 2022 in a huge, modern building in Kendall Square. This new space is much bigger, with lots of room for exhibits.
The museum's public areas are designed like a "spiral" path. You walk up through three floors, exploring different exhibits. It's a fun way to see everything!
What You'll See Inside
The exhibits start with Essential MIT. This part gives you a peek into the research and people at MIT. Then, you move on to see how MIT's work affects the whole world. There are also special areas for temporary exhibits.
Finally, you get a closer look at MIT's history and special items. There are cool stairs that also work as seats for shows. These shows can even be seen from outside!
Hands-On Fun and History
The museum has special hands-on areas. These include the Maker Hub and Learning Labs. Here, you can create and experiment yourself. There's also a Collection Workshop where you can look closely at historical items.
One exhibit, MIT Collects, shows hundreds of historical objects from MIT. You can see a mechanical mouse built by Claude Shannon. This mouse was one of the first experiments in machine learning (where computers learn on their own). You can also find items from famous student pranks, called "hacks," and learn about the history of different groups at MIT.
Exciting Programs and Events
The MIT Museum offers many activities for middle and high school students. These include group tours, workshops, art classes, and contests.
There are also programs for older students and adults. These often include talks by MIT researchers. You can learn about new discoveries in science, technology, and art. These events are often about important topics that affect everyone.
Cambridge Science Festival
The Cambridge Science Festival is a big annual event started by the MIT Museum in 2007. It was the first festival of its kind in the United States. It has inspired similar events in other cities.
The festival is open to everyone, from young kids to older adults. Most events are free! You can find information and schedules online. The festival usually happens in the fall and attracts over 100,000 visitors each year.
Friday After Thanksgiving (F.A.T.) Competition
For over 20 years, the MIT Museum hosted a fun event called the "Friday After Thanksgiving" (F.A.T.) chain reaction. Teams would build amazing Rube Goldberg machines. These are machines that do a simple task in a very complicated way.
Each machine would trigger the next one in a long chain. The whole thing would be filmed and shown on big screens for the audience. Prizes were given out for the best machines. Sadly, the last competition was held in 2019, as the organizers moved away.
Past Exhibitions to Remember
The MIT Museum has hosted many interesting exhibits over the years.
Photography
The museum used to have a special gallery for photography. It showed photos related to art, science, and technology. For example, it displayed photos by Berenice Abbott. Her work showed basic physics principles, like a famous picture of a bouncing ball. The museum also featured the amazing high-speed photos of MIT professor Doc Edgerton. His photos captured things moving too fast for the eye to see.
Slide Rules
The MIT Museum has a huge collection of slide rules. These were tools used for calculations before electronic calculators existed. The museum often displays some of these historical tools.
Kinetic Art
One of the most popular parts of the museum has always been the kinetic art by Arthur Ganson. His artworks are machines that move in fascinating ways. These popular moving sculptures now have a special gallery in the new museum building.
Holography Collection
In 1993, the MIT Museum received a huge gift: the entire collection from the Museum of Holography. This made MIT's collection the largest and most complete collection of holograms in the world. It includes many important historical, scientific, and artistic holograms. You can even search the collection online!
Hacker Relics
For a while, the museum had a "Hall of Hacks." This showed off some of the famous student pranks at MIT. While this section is now closed, the items are still kept for future research and exhibits. Some larger hack relics are displayed in another MIT building, the Stata Center. These include a replica of a police car that students once placed on top of a dome!
MIT 150 Exhibition
In 2011, the museum had a special exhibit called The MIT 150 Exhibition. This celebrated MIT's 150th anniversary. It showed 150 objects, documents, and other items from MIT's history.
Student Showcase
The Inventions: student showcase displayed cool inventions and moving art made by MIT students. Many of these projects were built in special workshops at the museum or in MIT classes.
Images for kids
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A giant slide rule for classrooms
