Tsinghua University Science Museum (Preparation) Temporary Exhibition Hall Settings
Under the guidance of Fan Aihong, assistant director and exhibition coordinated Fan Aihong (middle), the left is Liu Dibo, and the right is Scarlett Hau
Liu Dibo (left) explanation is
Tsinghua University Science Museum model close-up
[Author introduction]
Scarlett Hau, a teacher at the Development Planning Department of Tsinghua University, participated in the preparation of Tsinghua University "14th Five-Year Plan"; currently the founding partner and CEO of Tsinghua University, founder of the Dashi Youth Charity Project, the global ambassador of the All-China Women's Federation China Children and Youth Foundation Escort Program, and Official certified trainer of the United Nations Development Program Movers Sustainable Development Project.
Tsinghua Park has no boundaries. This is my most sincere feeling when I am willing to leave work late at night every day. Because visiting every corner, enjoying every scenery, immersing every thought, and talking to every soul makes me look forward to the next surprise.
When I participated in the preparation of Tsinghua University's "14th Five-Year Plan", I was honored to immerse myself in an environment with Tsinghua brain leadership direction and insights and guidance from top masters every day, and experience the wisdom of "drawing a blueprint to the end".
On a night with stars, I visited a place I was thinking about - Tsinghua University Science Museum (Preparation) (hereinafter referred to as "Qingkebo"). The name
is a bit strange, because it is actually a museum under construction, and it will also be the first comprehensive collection science museum in my country . What attracted me was the "Flight and Engineering Machinery Exhibition of Leonardo da Vinci (hereinafter referred to as " da Vinci ") held in the temporary exhibition hall of "Qingkebo" in October 2021.
Leonardo da Vinci, many people know that he is because of the story of standing up the egg, remember that he is because of the smile of " Mona Lisa ", praise him because he is the greatest artist and scientist of the Renaissance. But in my opinion, this person is too interesting. This is a lecherous scholar who is not satisfied with being a slash youth and insists on becoming a top cross-border player. Painting is his lifelong love and his way of letting the world remember himself, but that is only a small part of his life. He has also made remarkable achievements in dozens of fields.
As a fan of Leonardo da Vinci, I have always been inspired. I studied across four majors while studying and experienced the joy of seeking knowledge in interdisciplinary and field. So, when I learned that this exhibition was a "Qingkebo" restoration research team based on the Leonardo da Vinci manuscripts and related documents, I felt a yearning for it and I must pay tribute to this lonely pioneer.
is very happy to be an audience in "Qingkebo". In front of you are the restored exhibits that collided with the current team, and in front of you are the heartfelt explanations of Tsinghua teachers, students and other museum lovers and researchers. Inner experience is the wonderful time travel feeling of going back to history, looking at the present, and imagining the future.
Liu Dibo is a very outstanding tour guide I met at "Qingkebo". His most direct identity is a direct doctoral student at the School of Environment of Tsinghua University. Because he has been a volunteer at the Museum of Art and Science of Tsinghua University for a long time, he has already known the stories of the Renaissance era. During the Beijing Winter Olympics, he performed excellently when he served as assistant to the Italian chairman of the International Single Sports Federation International Single Sports Federation (ASOIF), the summer Olympics event, and not only formed a deep friendship with him, further understood the culture and history of Italy, but also received an official thank-you letter from ASOIF. During the communication with him, I found that he had a profound understanding of the conquering spirit of "straight to the sky" in his in-depth participation in the entire exhibition. I believe that such an experience and perspective are precious and unique. In this regard, I also held an interview with him.
How will you introduce to everyone the Leonardo da Vinci in "Qingkebo"?
Scarlett: Dipo, I’m very happy to discuss with you on “Straight to the Sky – Leonardo da Vinci’s Flight and Engineering Machinery Exhibition”.We know that the exhibition was originally planned to be withdrawn in "Qingkebo" in May this year, but because it is so popular, it has been changed to the end of October. Why do you think the exhibition of "Qingkebo" is so popular?
Liu Dibo: The Tsinghua University Science Museum, which is under construction, is the first comprehensive collection science museum in my country. It will use the exhibition method of combining scientific and technological cultural relics and high-tech interactive exhibits to reproduce the great scientific discoveries and technological inventions in the history of human science and technology, reproduce the brilliant achievements of Tsinghua Science and Engineering in the modern and contemporary science and technology history of China, and become a new landscape of Tsinghua that promotes scientific dissemination and inspires scientific and technological innovation.
, an exhibition that lasted for a year, is located in the temporary exhibition hall of "Qingkebo". By presenting 25 precious Leonardo da Vinci's representative designs in the fields of flight and mechanical engineering, it reproduces Leonardo daring to challenge the limitations of mankind, and recalls the great rejuvenation path of European scientific tradition.
Scarlett Haha: I am a fan of Leonardo da Vinci, but many people don’t know this interesting soul yet. As the tour guide of the exhibition, you have been "incidentally" with him for a long time. How would you introduce Leonardo da Vinci in "Qing Kebo" to you?
Liu Dibo: When most people focus on the artistic achievements of Leonardo da Vinci, such as "Mona Lisa" and "Hidden Dinner ", his inspiration in science is indeed less well known than achievements. In fact, it can be seen from the " Vitruvian " drawn by this genius artist around 1490 that he has a deep understanding of anatomy . This scientific literacy is also reflected in many aspects such as architectural design, geometry , mechanical structure, etc., which can be seen from his manuscripts.
Although it is unfortunate that Da Vinci's scientific insights were almost not recognized by society in his contemporaries. Compared with his well-known works of art, his scientific manuscripts were scattered throughout Europe and most of them were also hidden. However, in the second industrial revolution of , with the rapid progress of industry, people further deepened their understanding of science. When looking back at Da Vinci's manuscripts, we can further see his transcendent scientific thinking.
Perhaps it is difficult for us to evaluate the status of Leonardo da Vinci in the history of science, and his scientific research results seem to stand like an isolated island in the long river of history, but his imaginative mechanical design and solid natural observation skills also allow us to see that he seems to have scientific literacy that does not belong to his era. In the simple and spacious exhibition hall of "Qingkebo", the curator shows Leonardo da Vinci's understanding and record of science and technology transcendent from the perspectives of flight machinery, engineering machinery and war machinery. What is the story behind the flying machinery in the
exhibition?
Scarlett: Let’s first talk about the flight machinery in the exhibition. We can see that in this exhibition, many Leonardo da Vinci’s works on flight were presented, such as: “stage aircraft” and “giant bird”. In addition to his longing for the stars and sea and yearning for the unknown, these presentations are actually inseparable from his profound scientific literacy. Let us tell us the story behind this.
Liu Dibo: Human beings have had a desire for flight since ancient times. As early as the Ancient Greek period, there were myths of Daedalos and Icarus using feathers and beeswax to simulate bird wings flying, and there are also records of thousands of households flying in the sky in China. Leonardo da Vinci's understanding of flight is also reflected in his manuscripts.
Da Vinci's early aircraft designs included devices such as "stage flight ship" for stage performances, which already included the basic flight mechanical transmission structure. In fact, Leonardo da Vinci has already had a preliminary understanding of the mechanical characteristics of air. Although a complete physics theoretical system had not been established at that time, his many understandings of the properties of air were close to the aerodynamics theory in modern physics.As he stated, "the force exerted by an object on air is equal to the force that air reacts on an object", which is surprisingly similar to the " Newton's Third Law " proposed by Newton nearly two hundred years later, which is enough to prove that Leonardo da Vinci's superb physical thinking beyond his era. The exhibition hall of
"Qing Kebo" is very simple, showing several human-powered flapping wing transmission structure and flapping wing model recorded in the manuscript of Leonardo da Vinci. These models are highly operable, and the exquisite mechanical transmission structures included in them make the flapping wing machine operate as exquisite as a work of art. Many of the flight machinery he designed were inspired by the flying posture of birds. Adhering to the worship and imitation of nature during the Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci made extremely detailed observations of the way birds wings waving in nature, and borrowed it from his own flapping wing aircraft design. Therefore, in the exhibition, you can see that the operating principles of a considerable number of flight devices are similar to the process of flapping the wings of birds.
Scarlett: But although Leonardo da Vinci devoted such great enthusiasm to flight, his final practice often ended in failure. After all, science is science, and direction is more important than persistence. In your opinion, why did he fail? How did he deal with this failure?
Liu Dibo: The road chosen by Leonardo da Vinci, which is completely contrary to the flight principles of contemporary aircraft, is destined not to be smooth. The weak power of manpower and the bulky wooden structure make his aircraft destined not to soar in the sky. After his failures again and again, he continues to improve the design of the aircraft, which also reflects his persistence in constantly challenging himself.
It was not until his later years that Leonardo da Vinci realized that the driving force of the human flapping wing aircraft was almost impossible to successfully fly into the blue sky at that time, so he turned to research on gliding with the help of wind. Unfortunately, Leonardo da Vinci did not see his flight machinery flying into the blue sky with his own eyes. Then humans studied aircraft from hot air balloons to glider , and then to Wright brothers that operated the aircraft in 1903. Generations of generations also carry the courage and perseverance of Leonardo da Vinci to challenge and break through himself.
In terms of scientific understanding, Leonardo da Vinci is not a "vague"
Scarlett: if you don't work once, you'll be twice, if you don't work twice, you'll be three times, you'll keep reviewing failures, constantly cognitive iterations, and constantly surpassing the past. His perseverance and perseverance are also one of the most worthy of learning from him. In addition to flying machinery, we can also see many exhibits of real machinery in the exhibition hall, from tanks to ladders, from crossbow to cranes, and many more. And it also reflects a lot of humanistic care. How did he achieve such a comprehensive range?
Liu Dibo: Although Leonardo da Vinci's research on flight machinery failed, in terms of scientific understanding, he is not a " utopian person". In addition to flying machinery, he is also a loyal recorder of real machinery, which is inseparable from his early experience of participating in the construction of the dome of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Hundred Flowers.
The Cathedral of the Virgin Mary is a masterpiece of the Renaissance architectural work. The dome of the Cathedral of the Virgin Mary, made in the ancient Roman Pantheon, is a perfect combination of classical art and technology, and is also an engineering miracle. The construction of such a large-sized dome requires a large amount of building materials to be accurately transported to the corresponding location, which is inseparable from the great contributions of various cranes.
, who presided over the construction of the dome of the Cathedral of the Virgin Mary, designed a large number of cranes to apply them to this huge and complex project, and the engineer group he worked in had quite rich insights into cranes.
Leonardo da Vinci also witnessed the construction process of the church and made detailed records of the cranes at that time: there were "three-speed cranes" that transport objects on a large scale, there were "castle cranes" that carried out more fine transport, and there were "tower cranes" that completed the construction of the spire.
In addition to recording, Da Vinci also improved the structure of the crane and drew the first structural explosion diagram in human history. Such detailed scientific thinking also reflects Da Vinci's rational thinking.
Leonardo da Vinci's description of war machinery reflects his humanistic care. Although the amazing imagination reflected in these war machinery comes from the Renaissance's passionate pursuit of ancient Greek traditions, it can be seen from Leonardo da Vinci's condemnation of war that the records of these war machinery reflect his pursuit and thinking about human nature. What we can see in the exhibition hall of
are both the invincible "sick chariot" with its appearance, the classic "siege ladder" and "giant crossbow", and the dramatic " armored chariot " designed by him without exception. These show the perfect fusion of science and art by this outstanding artist and scientist. And they also tell the story of the humanistic glory and scientific ideals shining on Leonardo da Vinci, together with the flight machinery and engineering machinery in front. All the exhibits in the
exhibition came from the restoration research team of "Qingkebo"
Scarlett: Yes, science and art are not separated. The two are integrated and are actually one. In the academic hall of Tsinghua University, such a story of intersection between science and humanities is consistent with the path to comprehensively improve the comprehensive quality of contemporary young students. Let’s talk about the story behind the exhibition. Everyone must be very interested. Where did the exhibits in this exhibition come from? What are the stories of the team behind this scene? As a tour guide, what is your daily life like?
Liu Dibo: Since its preparation, the Science Museum of Tsinghua University has carried out a large number of scientific instruments and cultural relics restoration work. The exhibits in this "Straight to the Sky" exhibition are all from the restoration research team of "Qingkebo". The team members took the manuscript of Leonardo da Vinci as the blueprint, referenced a large number of relevant records from the same era, and used 3D modeling to construct design drawings and engineering drawings, and finally presented one restoration machine after another.
It is worth mentioning that in addition to the researchers in the Department of History of Science in Tsinghua, this team also includes a large number of undergraduate students who participated in scientific research training. These Tsinghua students exert their understanding and love for science, and also feel the determination and determination of human beings to understand and conquer nature in scientific research, and personally participate in the restoration and modeling of precious machinery. For teachers and students on campus, Leonardo da Vinci and his manuscript materials became an important window for them to see the new Renaissance thoughts and innovative spirit.
Behind the exhibition, there is also a group of volunteers who tell the exhibits "lively" through their own ways. This team of dozens of people has their own expertise, including Tsinghua students, university professors, popular science authors, and mechanical engineers... These volunteers who are active in all walks of life have become an important window for the "Qingkebo" to convey the scientific spirit to the public in their spare time.
In the "Straight to the Sky" exhibition, the volunteers closely combined their professional background with the exhibits, telling the story of one moving moment after another of the blooming scientific ideas. There are those who combine the art of the Renaissance, those who focus on basic scientific principles to popularize science for children, and those who share the history of human flight from the Leonardo da Vinci aircraft... These different interpretation angles make the same exhibition shine differently in the descriptions of different volunteers, and also allow the audience to see the different side of Leonardo da Vinci. In addition to giving a good explanation, this creative team also allowed the mark of the times and scientific spirit behind Leonardo da Vinci to come out of the exhibition hall and presented it to the audience in a different way.
At the end of last year, the "Kebo Culture Week" series of activities led by "Qingkebo" and volunteers to exert their main strength, and jointly organized by various students in Tsinghua University attracted widespread public attention. Among them are Professor Wu Guosheng, Director of the Science Museum, and Professor Li Mu, the School of Fine Arts, and the teachers and students of the three students who talked with the teachers and students. There are also classmates from Tsinghua drama team performing "Museum Wonderful Night" performances in the "Qing Kebo" and performing clips of the drama " Macbeth " in the exhibition hall. A series of exciting activities immersed the audience in the scientific and artistic atmosphere of exhibitions and performances, and the thoughtful public education activities also carried forward the value of exhibitions.
Scarlett Haha: It’s amazing! After listening to your description, I believe that readers’ impression of this exhibition has become richer and more three-dimensional. Today, in addition to the development and development of Da Vinci's scientific thinking , we also talked about the background of the times, its historical value and contributions, and the Tsinghua story behind it. Thank you for your great work for restoring the great works, thank you for making Leonardo da Vinci's story come alive, and thank you very much for accepting my interview. The exhibition of
"Straight to the Sky" is about to end, and it is planned to continue to be exhibited in the "Qingkebo" permanent hall. As an important window for improving public scientific literacy, research scholars, "Qingkebo" librarians and volunteers answered the question of "what is science". By the end of this year, the permanent building of the Science Museum of Tsinghua University will begin. In the future, the glorious thoughts of many Chinese and foreign scientists like Leonardo da Vinci will surely shine in this science hall like stars. Let us look forward to it together!
text/Scarlett Hao Photography/Jing Wei Scarlett Hao
Special thanks/Fan Aihong
