Universe in Your Hands
Learn about a time in history when people believed that the Earth was the center of the Universe. The exhibit features spectacular astrolabes, armillary spheres, and sundials to illustrate the medieval European and Middle Eastern conception of the Universe.
Location: Lower Level (see map)
Appropriate for: Ages 8 and up
Exhibition Tour
Universe in Your Hands
- A school group explores a sundial in the Universe in Your Hands Exhibition.
Visit our medieval classroom to find out how much different school was back then compared to today. Learn how to use early astronomy tools including astrolabes and sundials. Enjoy part of our expansive early instruments collection on display in this gallery.
Bringing Heavens to Earth
- Look at the moon and Jupiter to determine your fate as an Assyrian king in this Universe in Your Hands Interactive.
This exhibit features some of the cultures of the world that have, throughout time, engaged in the timeless quest to understand their place in the Universe, and found diverse ways to incorporate astronomy into their daily lives.
Plant potatoes by the Pleiades as they do in the Andes, send an Egyptian pharaoh to his celestial destiny, and look at the moon and Jupiter to determine your fate as an Assyrian king. Since ancient times, people have looked at the heavens with awe and wonder, but they have also used the sky as an inspiration and resource for the entire spectrum of their lives.
Sponsors and Partners
Bringing Heavens to Earth was funded by the C. Paul Johnson Family Charitable Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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- Get involved
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Have an out of this world birthday party at the Adler this year.
