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

Seeing the Unseen: Below Man's Vision (Exhibition)
birth: 1974 July 3
death: 1974 September 30
Exhibition. Opened in July 3, 1974 and closed September 30, 1974. Located in Section 1A, Floor 1 in Gallery 77 at the American Museum of Natural History. "Seeing the Unseen: Below Man's Vision" was an exhibition illustrating and explaining the scanning electron microscope (SEM).
Summary
"Seeing the Unseen: Below Man's Vision" was an exhibition illustrating and explaining the scanning electron microscope (SEM). An actual SEM was not exhibited: instead, large photographs depicted the instrument in detail. Approximately one hundred additional photo enlargements showed images produced on the SEM's viewing screen. A five-minute movie demonstrating the SEM's operational principle ran continuously. With funds from the National Science Foundation, The Charles E. Merrill Trust and the Thorne Foundation, the Museum acquired its own SEM which enabled scientists in the departments of entomology, invertebrate paleontology, herpetology, mineralogy and mammalogy to further their studies. The exhibit, organized by The Field Museum of Natural History, came to the Museum through the Smithsonian Institution's Traveling Exhibition Service and was on view in Gallery 77 of the American Museum of Natural History from July 3 through September 30, 1974.
Individuals and institutions involved in the creation of the exhibition: National Science Foundation; The Charles E. Merrill Trust; The Thorne Foundation; The Field Museum of Natural History; Smithsonian Institution's Traveling Exhibition Service.