海角大神

At the end of tumultuous 1968 鈥� a year of political assassinations, war, riots, the crushing of the Prague Spring 鈥� the view from Earth was bleak. The world needed hope 鈥� and Apollo 8 astronauts orbiting the moon on Christmas Eve read the creation text from Genesis鈥� first chapter to a billion listeners.

The inspiration from the astronauts reading Old Testament Scripture on a scientifically engineered spacecraft comes through even decades later and on a crackly video loop in the new exhibit 鈥淒iscovery and Revelation: Religion, Science, and Making Sense of Things鈥� at the Smithsonian Institution鈥檚 National Museum of American History.

Such intersections of religion and science in American culture are part of the focus of the yearlong exhibit. 聽聽

Many people assume that there is a conflict between science and religion, says Peter Manseau, the exhibit curator. But he wants visitors to walk away realizing that the interaction is much broader than a story of conflict alone.

鈥淭he challenge was trying to expand the terms of engagement with which religion and science are usually discussed,鈥� says Mr. Manseau.

To accomplish that, three prompting questions frame the exhibit: 鈥淲hat does it mean to be human?鈥� 聽鈥淲hat do we owe each other?鈥� and 鈥淲hat is our place in the universe?鈥�

Packed into the 1,200-square-foot space are artifacts to explore those inquiries. For example, the Apollo 8 flight manual, Charles Darwin鈥檚 1860 book 鈥淥n the Origin of Species鈥澛爀stablishing his theory of evolution,聽and the message from the first public demonstration of the telegraph in the 1840s (鈥淲hat hath God wrought?鈥�) are all displayed.聽聽

鈥淚t鈥檚 small enough for people to appreciate the theme,鈥� says Lisa Deason, a member of the Guild of Professional Tour Guides of Washington, D.C., at an exhibition preview in March. 鈥淚 think it will spur on some thinking.鈥�

The exhibit proceeds both chronologically and thematically. Roughly chronological displays line the walls, starting with the 1700s and closing with the Apollo 8 message. In keeping with museum policy, all text is shown in both English and Spanish.聽聽聽 聽 聽

鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to tell a story of American history that is as diverse as the American people,鈥� says Mr. Manseau, noting the exhibit鈥檚 displays of many faiths.

The exhibit includes a portrait of Henrietta Lacks, a young African American mother who had cancerous cells that were used by medical researchers after her death in 1951 without her or her family鈥檚 permission. In the portrait, she stands, hands clasping a Bible, with the prompting question above her: 鈥淲hat do we owe each other?鈥�

Mr. Manseau sees parallels between past and present, especially related to the pandemic that transpired as the collection was pulled together over the past three years. He points out the 鈥淔aith and Healing鈥� display that shows pamphlets arguing for and against smallpox inoculations in 1721 and 1722. Conversations in Boston three centuries ago, he says, mirrored those that took place over the past few years.

鈥淲hat we鈥檝e seen is that the intersection of religion and science is still very present in our approach and our interpretation of what to do in the face of something like a pandemic,鈥� says Mr. Manseau, author of a book about Thomas Jefferson鈥檚 Bible, where the third president excised Jesus鈥� healings and metaphysical statements. (That 1820 book by Jefferson interpreting the Bible, 鈥淭he Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth,鈥澛爄s also on display.)

In the middle of the exhibit, between display cases that line the walls, are panels of eight people whose words are displayed next to other thematic questions such as: 鈥淐an religion be scientific?鈥� The founder of this newspaper, Mary Baker Eddy, is included on the panel with that question, as is a partial quote from her book, 鈥淪cience and Health with Key to the Scriptures.鈥�

Mr. Manseau, who co-wrote a new book with the same title as the exhibit, says he wants visitors to walk away asking new questions: 鈥淲e鈥檙e not trying to solve this riddle or to answer this question definitively.鈥� 聽

鈥淒iscovery and Revelation: Religion, Science, and Making Sense of Things鈥澛爎uns through March 1, 2023.