American Museum of Natural History Research Library
author: American Museum of Natural History

Epidemic! The World of Infectious Disease (Exhibition)
birth: 1999 February 27
death: 1999 September 6
Exhibition. Opened February 27, 1999 – September 6, 1999. Located in Section 3, Floor 3 in Gallery 3 at the American Museum of Natural History. Epidemic! The World of Infectious Disease focused on the importance of understanding the global nature of infectious disease.
Summary
Epidemic! The World of Infectious Disease explored the biological and ecological factors that influence the causes, spread, and control of infectious disease, and investigated the ways in which different cultures deal with deadly diseases. The exhibition was organized by Rob DeSalle, associate curator in the Museum’s Department of Entomology and co-director of the Museum’s molecular laboratories. It was sponsored by Bristol-Myers Squibb and the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Endowment Fund (1, p. 1-2).
Epidemic! used dioramas, three-dimensional models, videos, films, interactive computer stations, photographs, and comprehensive wall text. It covered the specific diseases of AIDS, Ebola, flu, hantavirus, Lyme disease, malaria, tuberculosis, and the illness caused by E. coli 0157:H7 (1, p. 3).
The exhibition was divided into sections (1, p. 3-5):
*Prologue
*Environmental Change
*It’s a Small World: Microbes and Others
*The Study of Microbes
*Infection
*Outbreak
*Epidemic/Pandemic
*Taking Action
Highlights (1, p. 3-6):
*An interactive computer game pitting infectious diseases against the human immune system
*Diorama of a “high containment” laboratory
*Wentzscopes, which allowed visitors to view microbes as scientists do
*An animated project which followed a flu microbe
*A model of a bow of a ship with rats running down its hawsers, showing the spread of plague in 14th century Venice
*A water pump which demonstrated how cholera infected 19th century London
*Air-conditioning ducts which symbolized Legionnaire’s Disease
*A panel from the AIDS Quilt
*Resource Center, which featured the exhibition’s page on the Museum website, a library of reference works, and take-away brochures from the New York City Department of Health, the World Health Organization, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The exhibition was designed and executed by the Museum’s Department of Exhibition under the direction of vice president of Exhibition, David Harvey. The exhibition was developed by Robert Vinci, the content coordinator was Marla Jo Brickman, the exhibition designer was Larry Langham, the lighting designer was David Clinard, and the graphics designer was Jayne Hertko. Other members of the exhibition department who worked on the exhibition were Barret Klein, Sean Murtha, Tony Rogers, and Alan Walker (1, p. 6; 2 p. 28; 3).
The Museum’s Department of Education developed special programs in conjunction with the exhibition. A companion book to the exhibition was published in July 1999 (1, p. 6).
An advisory committee for the exhibition included Jeremiah A. Barondess, M.D., President, New York Academy of Medicine; Barry Bloom, Ph.D., Dean, Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard University; Dani Bolognesi, Ph.D., Director, Centers for AIDS Research, Duke University Medical Center; David Brandling-Bennett, M.D., Deputy Director, Pan American Health Organization; Richard J. Colonno, Ph.D., Vice President, Infectious Diseases Drug Discovery, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company; Veena Das, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology, University of Delhi; Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health; Laurie A. Garrett, Medical and Science Writer, Newsday; Anne Gershon, M.D., Professor of Pediatrics/Infectious Diseases, Columbia University of Physicians and Surgeons; Paul Greenough, Ph.D., Professor of History, University of Iowa; Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D., Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, United States Department of Health and Human Services; Samuel Katz, M.D., Wilburt C. Davidson Professor of Pediatrics, Duke University of Medicine; Mathilde Krim, Ph.D., Chairman of the Board, American Foundation for AIDS Research; Joshua Lederberg, Ph.D., Sackler Foundation Scholar, The Rockefeller University; Joseph Edward McDade, Ph.D., Deputy Director, National Center for Infectious Disease, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Anne Platt McGinn, Research Associate, WorldWatch Institute; Alvin Novick, M.D., Professor of Evolutionary and Ecological Biology, Yale University; Robert E. Shope, M.D., Professor, Center for Tropical Disease, The University of Texas Medical Branch; Burton Singer, Ph.D., Professor, Office of Population Research, Princeton University; Bonnie Lee Smoak, M.D., Ph.D., Lieutenant Colonel, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research; Andrew Spielman, Sc.D., Professor of Tropical Public Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard University; Louis Sullivan, M.D., President, Morehouse School of Medicine; Mary E. Wilson, M.D., Chief Infectious Diseases, Mount Auburn Hospital (4).
This is a condensed summary of the exhibition. For additional information, see Sources and/or Related Resources.