Dublin

Dublin’s science heritage celebrated in new exhibition

Ingenious Dublin at the Little Museum of Dublin is based on the work of Irish Times contributor and science communicator Mary Mulvihill

Adele Boudon at the launch of Ingenious Ireland, an exhibition on the scientific heritage of Dublin, based on the work of Irish Times contributor Mary Mulvihill, at the Little Museum of Dublin on St Stephen’s Green. Photograph: Bryan Meade

Wed Oct 18 2023 - 21:37

An exhibition on the scientific heritage of Dublin, based on the work of Irish Times contributor Mary Mulvihill and her book Ingenious Ireland, was launched at the Little Museum of Dublin on St Stephen’s Green on Wednesday night.

The exhibition, titled Ingenious Dublin, features a selection of scientific people and places, based on Mulvihill’s book. Playful and colourful, the exhibition tells the story of Dublin in exhibits that chart its nature, technology, water and medicine.

Included are an instrument made in Dublin on loan from Dunsink Observatory, used to take measurements in 1919 that helped to prove Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. The exhibition also includes fossils on loan from the Geological Museum in Trinity College Dublin (TCD), including Oldhamia, Ireland’s oldest fossil.

There are also glass plates used by John Joly in his experiments with colour photography as TCD professor of geology. The story of humane hanging, developed by TCD’s Samuel Haughton, also features.

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Among the women scientists featured are Maire Delany and her work on human remains (including bog bodies), and Sheila Tinney, who studied with J Robert Oppenheimer, father of the atomic bomb.

Mulvihill, who died in 2015, is recognised as a pioneer of science communication in Ireland. The exhibition in her honour runs until January 2024.

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