Library+of+Imagination

Library of Imagination

1) Model of Human Evolution



We have evolved from walking on all fours to the somewhat civilized people we are now. We created cell phones, laptops, and all the items that are listed below. This is the library of human imagination.

2) Flyer/Kitty Hawk For hundreds of years people have dreamt of flying. They imagined the feeling of lifting of the ground and feeling the weightlessness. Lots of them have made their own "flying machines" and failed. The Wright Brothers did not. On December,17, 1903, Orville Wright made the first powered and piloted flight in history. Although the flight was only 12 seconds long, it was the start of the whole new world of flying.



Click here to see a replica flight of the first Flyer/Kitty Hawk nearly a hundred years after the original flight. (The Youtube user disabled embedding.)

3) Models Architecture by Frank Gehry The Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Experience Music Project building have one thing in common. They are both the result of Frank Gehry's imaginative designing. He and some of the buildings he designed, including his personal residence, were even featured on an episode of the Simpsons.

For more of his cool architecture click [|here].

4) The Feather and Hammer Dropped on the Moon On the last moonwalk of Apollo 15, David Scott dropped a hammer and feather to demonstrate the concept of gravity that Galileo had come up with 400 years ago. Galileo went against the beliefs and people in that time period and even when everybody said he was crazy he continued on with his research. Unfortunately the people of the renaissance were not very open to Galileo's seemingly crazy ideas. He was charged with heresy and spent the rest of his life under house arrest.

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5) A Model of the Original Disneyland and the Current Disneyland "As long as there is imagination left in the world, Disneyland will never be finished." Walt Disney sure was right about that. Disneyland began as a an idea formed by Walt Disney, grew into a few sketches, and finally turned into a 160-acre theme park opened on July 16th, 1955. Walt Disney imagined and created a place where " age relives fond memories of the past ... and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future." Now, more than half a century later, Disneyland is 510 acres with over 50 attractions and has many locations around the world.

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6) An Early Print of the New York Times Before TV and radio, newspapers were a way to deliver and receive information. And while the New York times isn't the oldest newspaper in the world or even in North America, it remains one of the most widely known newspapers in the world. As people started shifting from newspapers to going online to check the news the New York Times did the same. Their website is the most visited news website in America with more than 18 million different visitors every month. This newspaper has survived through over a hundred fifty years of rapid changes to our society and the world.



7) Original Scores of Antonio Vivaldi Antonio Vivaldi wasn't just a composer, he had a day job too. He worked at an orphanage for girls. He looked over the fact that these girls were not wanted by the rest of society and created an orchestra with them. They eventually became famous and toured all over Europe.





8) Statue of David Before the Renaissance, paintings and sculptures and art in general lacked depth. Paintings looked flat and sculptures had no real detail. With the Statue of David you get an amazing amount of detail. The hair has individual curls and you can actually see the muscle structure. The art of the Renaissance was just a huge step up from the art of previous time periods.

9) Animal Farm by George Orwell Instead of it being a boring textbook about the Russian Revolution, George Orwell used his imagination and made it interesting by using animals. The story still talks about "Animalism" and the abuse of power but on a new and different platform. Orwell gives each of the animals a unique personality that represents a important figure or group of people. Once you actually get into the Russian Revolution it's really quite interesting but at a first glance would you rather read a dusty old textbook or a story about animals?  Animal Farm was made into a animated movie on Youtube. But read the book first. An animated movie can't replace the book.            10) Henry Gray's Anatomy of the Human Body This was the first widely available textbook that covered all of human anatomy. No else had thought, or at least taken action, of putting together a complete book. the textbooks before just focused on a specific part of the body. The book is considered a classic work in the subject and now more than a hundred fifty years later forty editions have been published. Considering that this book was first published in 1858 and is still regularly being used is amazing. (It also inspired the name of the TV show Grey's Anatomy.) From the 20th edition ---> to the current one.

Building Design Welcome to our Library of Imagination. The entire circular outer wall of the first floor is lined with bookshelves. From there in, the bookshelves are arranged in a sort of a maze. The center of the first floor has a huge globe that is surrounded by revolving panels that spout important historical facts. Around the globe is a model of human evolution. Full size human skeletons going from the Australopithecus to the modern day human being. In front of that are glass cases containing old and rare books and sheet music from famous authors and musicians from all around the world. Behind the globe is a spiral staircase going up to the second and third floors. Along the back wall of the second floor are models of the amazing architecture in the world like, models of the Great Pyramids, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and different buildings designed by Frank Gehry. A comparison of the tallest buildings in the world is painted onto the wall behind the models. The left side of the floor is the different inventions and books by Galileo. His prototype for the thermometer and all of his versions of the telescope along with the hammer and feather dropped on the moon. The bottom of the the third floor has constellations and planets painted on with glow in the dark paint so you have the allusion of looking into the sky through one of Galileo's telescopes. On the opposite wall a comparison between modern airplanes and the various flying machines that people have attempted to build are exhibited. The third floor is all recent technological advances. Cell phones, laptops, and TV's are all displayed in a timeline. Robots and other artificial intelligence projects are all over the place. A huge interactive touch screen display covers the back wall allowing people to play games and learn more about each of the items in the library. The ceiling is a glass dome letting you stare out into the sky and daydream whenever you want. The floors are all made of glass and there is a circle cut out of the second and third floors so you can always look down onto the globe.



There were a lot of items to choose from but the three items that I think are the most important are the Rube Goldberg machine, the perpetual motion machine, and the bow and arrow. The idea of performing a simple task with an over engineered contraption is definitely different. Who would purposely go out of their way to make something harder and more complicated? Plus you can use whatever you want to make these machines and the design possibilities are endless. The perpetual motion machine is the same as the Rube Goldberg machine in the way that the design can be as imaginative as you want. But it’s not just the design. The potential it has to improve and grow, in my opinion, is huge. A machine that can, theoretically, go on forever without a source of energy could be used in the future if we ever drain out our energy sources. I’m not sure how that would work but hopefully someone will figure it out. Way before the creation of Rube Goldberg machines and the perpetual motion machines was the bow and arrow. The bow and arrow, or something similar to it, was created by almost every early human civilization. It was like a new generation of weapons. Instead of the usual variations of hitting someone over the head with a club or stabbing someone with a sharp rock, the bow and arrow allowed humans to kill from a distance. Anything that still continues to evolve and grow after thousands of years is a great invention. All three of those items are the result of a great deal of imagination and I hope you see why I chose them to represent human imagination.