Main Focus
- History
of the early telescope
- Material culture
- Artistic representation of scientific topics
Research project
Visualizing the Heavens: The Material Culture of Early Telescopes and the Star of Bethlehem
Curriculum Vitae
A rewarding 5-year
stint teaching high school math, physics, and computer science led Marvin Bolt
to pursue graduate work at the University of Notre (MA, History and Philosophy
of Science; MA, Philosophy; Ph.D., History). As Curator, Vice President for
Collections, and Director of the Webster Institute at Chicago’s Adler
Planetarium, he focused on engaging public audiences with the material culture
of science through exhibitions, public programs, planetarium shows, and educational
efforts. His research program on early telescopes took him to numerous museums
and private collections throughout Europe, and informed his ongoing inventory
of the world’s surviving examples made prior to 1775. His efforts as Curator of
Science and Technology at the Corning Museum of Glass (New York state) broadened
his professional interests into interdisciplinary studies of art, history,
science, and technology. A stint at Technische Universität Berlin enabled a
broader exploration of achromatic lenses, one of the topics of his research at
Bibliotheca Hertziana.