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The 1001 Inventions exhibition enjoyed its US premiere at the prestigious New York Hall of Science in Queens. Following its launch in December 2010, the exhibition welcomed over 250,000 visitors from all over the tri-state area and the American East Coast during its five month residency at New York’s leading interactive science museum.


© Robin Fox

Hot on the heels of record-breaking runs at the London Science Museum and Istanbul’s Sultanahmet Square, New York was the first American city on the 1001 Inventions international tour, which will go on to visit many prestigious venues across the continent.

The New York Hall of Science was the ideal inaugural US venue to host the 1001 Inventions exhibition and was chosen due to its status as New York City’s only hands-on science and technology centre. Since 1986, NYSCI has served more than five million children, parents and teachers. NYSCI’s mission is to convey the excitement and understanding of science and technology to children, families, teachers and others by galvanizing their curiosity and offering them creative, participatory ways to learn.

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1001 Inventions celebrates handover to Los Angeles

17th March 2011, New York. Hundreds of VIP guests attended an exclusive event to celebrate the forthcoming transfer of the 1001 Inventions exhibition, from New York city to its new home in Los Angeles, opening 25th May 2011.

The acclaimed international touring exhibition will travel from the East coast to the West after the Easter break to take up residence at the California Science Center (CSC) in Los Angeles in May. The 1001 Inventions exhibition, which highlights the underappreciated scientific and technological achievements of the “Golden Age” of Muslim civilization, has received tens of thousands of visitors since it arrived at the New York Hall of Science (NYSCI) in December 2010 and is globally sponsored by the Abdul Latif Jameel Community Initiatives (ALJCI).

As part of the ceremony, the CEO and President of NYSCI, Dr. Margaret Honey, carried out a symbolic transfer of the exhibition to her CSC counterpart, Jeffrey Rudolph, by handing over a reproduction of the Scribe Clock – a 13th century invention by master engineer Al-Jazari, who is one of the central characters within the exhibition.

1001 Inventions Science Museum New York Muslim Islamic Civilization
Science Theatre: NYSCI Explainer team bring to life historic pioneers from Muslim civilization

As part of the celebration, and to thank NYSCI for pr emiering the exhibition in the US, 1001 Inventions gifted a model of the Elephant Clock – another Al-Jazari invention – to Dr. Honey and her team as a permanent addition to the NYSCI collection. The event was attended by representatives from the UN’s diplomatic community, as well as academics and Museum representatives from around the world.

The 1001 Inventions exhibition at New York Hall of Science (NYSCI) runs until the 24th of April 2011. The West coast premiere of the exhibition will take place on the 27th May 2011, at the California Science Center in Los Angeles, before closing on the 11th of March 2012.

1001 Inventions Science Museum New York Muslim Islamic Civilization
Maurice Coles, on behalf of 1001 Inventions, gifts a replica Elephant Clock to NYSCI

The 1001 Inventions exhibition at New York Hall of Science (NYSCI) runs until the 24th of April 2011. The West coast premiere of the exhibition will take place on the 27th May 2011, at the California Science Center in Los Angeles, before closing on the 11th of March 2012.

3rd February 2011 – More than 400 teachers from the New York tri-state area attended a special “Open House” at New York Hall of Science (NYSCI) today, to enjoy a private viewing of the 1001 Inventions exhibition, which invited them to “Discover The Golden Age of Muslim Civilization”.

Educators from New York city and even further afield braved the snow and ice, which has encumbered the US Eastern seaboard for more than a month, to visit the recently-opened blockbuster exhibition at New York’s leading interactive science centre. The exhibition’s residency at NYSCI marks the US premiere of the 1001 Inventions initiative.

Visitors were introduced to the “Golden Age” of Muslim civilization with a special screening of the award-winning educational film, 1001 Inventions and The Library of Secrets, starring Oscar-winning actor Ben Kingsley. Following which, school teachers were invited to explore the 10,000 square foot exhibition which is divided into seven zones representing different areas of science and invention.

Junaid Bhatti, Director of Marketing for 1001 Inventions, commented: “Both 1001 Inventions and NYSCI are overwhelmed with how many school teachers took time out to attend this private viewing. The feedback we’ve received has been wholly positive and we look forward to many of the teachers who came tonight visiting us again over the next few months and bringing with them students from their schools for organised field trips.”

Prior to its arrival in the United States, the 1001 Inventions exhibition attracted record numbers of visitors during its residencies at the London Science Museum and Istanbul’s Sultan Ahmed Square, with a combined audience of more than 1 million people experiencing the blockbuster installation during it’s time in Europe.

US media welcomes 1001 Inventions to NYC

17 December 2010, New York — The 1001 Inventions exhibition, which highlights the scientific legacy of Muslim civilization in our modern age, made its United States debut at the New York Hall of Science (NYSCI) on December 4th 2010.

In its newest version, the exhibition has enjoyed blockbuster runs in both London and Istanbul, attracting more than 800,000 visitors so far this year.

Since its first launch in Manchester’s Museum of Science in 2006, the 1001 Inventions exhibition has received positive coverage from world media, who have celebrated its quality, comprehensiveness, and objectivity in presenting the facts about the vivid influence of the heritage of the Muslim world, especially in science, technology and medicine, on the modern world and civilisation.

During its first two weeks in New York, an audience of several thousand visited after dozens of US media outlets reported the arrival of the 1001 Inventions exhibition. Clyde Haberman from The New York Times published on December 7th 2010 an article “In This Show, an Islamic World Brimming with Innovation“, in which he stated that the exhibition focuses on a time when the Muslim world was an incubator for ideas in science and technology.

Perry Santanachote, from WNYC Culture Desk, wrote an excellent paper (NY Hall of Science Spotlights 1001 Inventions From the Muslim World, December 03, 2010), in which she reported the views of the 1001 Inventions team and New York Hall of Science leadership, as well those of visitors many of whom were impressed by the exhibition’s ability to answer questions such as ‘how did inventions and discoveries come about or where did they come from’?

On December 8, 2010, Arlene McKanic published 1001 Inventions: Discover the Muslim Heritage in Our World on The Root (a division of Washington post. Newsweek Interactive, a subsidiary of The Washington Post Company). Presenting 1001 Inventions as “a fun, splashy, fascinating exhibit“, the article highlights the contribution of Muslim scholars from Africa –the doctor Constantine the African, from Tunis, who translated works of Arabic medicine into Latin, and Al-Jahiz, the Iraqi writer and scientist of African descent.

These reporters and numerous others over the years have recognised the aim and spirit of this unique exhibition. They saw it as a very successful attempt to popularise science amongst young people, especially those from non-Western origins, by making it fun and hands-on as against placing extant historical objects in secure see-through cabinets. They praised its attempt to bring out the important feature of continuity of scientific inventions as a global phenomenon which transcends race, culture, religion and politics, as against an erroneous and dangerous reductionist view which propounds that civilisation as we know it came from Greece and was reborn in modern Western Europe.

Visitors to the exhibition, intellectuals, journalists and indeed many other socio-cultural commentators welcomed a new space for dialogue in which the cultural roots of science are used as a tool for building inter-cultural respect and appreciation. Indeed they considered the uncovering of the scientific contribution made by Muslim civilization to be as much a history of the West as it is of the East. And that Eastern heritage enmeshed with Western science and culture. They supported the exhibition’s attempt to bring out the historical harmony that existed between Muslim and non-Muslim scientists.

They were sensitive to the fact that the exhibition brought out for the first time on the museum scene the positive role of Muslim women in science. Fair minded supporters of science and advocators of social convergence, respect and peaceful coexistence as against social divergence and conflict, social cohesion had no hesitation in supporting this exhibition. Hundreds of thousands of visitors have voted with their feet and the 1001 Inventions exhibition, sponsored by ALJ Community Initiatives, well deserves its plaudits as a ‘blockbuster’.

Thousands visit 1001 Inventions for opening week in New York

7 December 2010, New York — The record-breaking 1001 Inventions exhibition has landed in North America at the world renowned New York Hall of Science (NYSCI) and has already attracted several thousand visitors on its US debut. The exhibition’s US premiere was highly anticipated after it enjoyed blockbuster runs in both London and Istanbul, attracting 400,000 people in each city and thousands have already visited the attraction.

The 1001 Inventions exhibition, which highlights the scientific legacy of Muslim civilization in our modern age, made its United States debut at the New York Hall of Science (NYSCI) on the 4th of December 2010 at a special event attended by local media, academics and philanthropists, including Mohammed Jameel, patron of Abdul Latif Jameel Community Initiatives (ALJCI).

1001 Inventions reveals the forgotten history of men and women of many different faiths and backgrounds whose contributions to the advancement of scholarship and technology during the Middle Ages helped pave the way for the European Renaissance. This period of history from the 7th through 17th centuries is commonly–though, often erroneously—referred to as the “Dark Ages.”

At the launch event, Dr. Margaret Honey, President and CEO of NYSCI, said: “Science is a universal language that has a unique power to pull people together. This exhibition reveals fascinating bits of history and a shared scientific inheritance. 1001 Inventions is about scholarship, inspiration and discovery among men and women from many cultures, making NYSCI an ideal venue for the U.S. debut — a hands-on science and technology centre in the most diverse city in the country.” Dr. Honey also thanked the 1001 Inventions project and its sponsor ALJCI for opening the exhibition’s US tour at NYSCI.

Professor Salim Al-Hassani, Chief Editor of 1001 Inventions and Chairman of FSTC, said, “The New York Hall of Science is the first U.S. venue to host this global exhibition. We’re privileged to be working with such an accomplished and respected educational institution. The 1001 Inventions exhibition has had phenomenal success in London and Istanbul, with audiences of more than 400,000 people visiting the exhibition in each city. The number of visitors for the New York residency is already in the thousands and we’re aiming to reach hundreds of thousands more during the US leg of our world tour.”

The 1001 Inventions exhibition at NYSCI runs from the 4th of December 2010 to the 24th of April 2011. Admission to 1001 Inventions is free with regular NYSCI admission ($11 adults, $8 children and seniors.)

About New York Hall of Science

NYSCI is New York’s center for hands-on fun and learning with more than 450 exhibits, science demonstrations, and programs for families, students and teachers. NYSCI conveys the excitement and understanding of science and technology by galvanizing curiosity and offering creative, participatory ways to learn.

Founded at the 1964-65 World’s Fair, NYSCI has developed into a leading content provider and presenter of exhibitions and programs that demystify our world and encourage curiosity, creativity, critical thinking and discovery.