But what is the difference between a virus and a bacterium?
Epidemic! The World of Infectious Disease
An exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History,
New York City, NY, U S A .S h owing until Sept 6, 1999.
(www.amnh.org/exhibitions/epidemic)
W
hen the venerable American cast fleeting images and interrupted
Museum of Natural History newscasts from epidemics past. In the
in New York City surveyed first display, projected mice eerily
its museum attendees, an
overwhelming majori t y
were interested in infec-
tious diseases, but only
10% knew the difference
between a virus and a bac-
terium. The disease they
were most concern e d
about? Ebola. Education
on infectious diseases
seems to be coming more
from television news and
newspaper headlines than
from the family physician.
The museum responded
with Epidemic! The World of
Infectious Disease, a distil-
lation of information on
microbes and men, t h e Installation of bacteria and viruses
b o d y ’s defences, and
epidemics. scurry across a dusty cabin floor.
The entrance to the exhibition sets Outside, a thunderstorm soaks the
the stage as large video screens broad- desert, while inside a man in silhou-
ette sweeps. His televi-
sion crackles to life; the
s t o ry of the 1993
Hantavirus outbreak in
Four Corn e rs , N e w
Mexico, is told in clips
from the nightly news.
Further on lies a cham-
ber decorated with
f o o t-long microbial
models. Children stroke
the textured surfaces of
viral part i c l e s , a d u l t s
read the brief but infor-
mative text, and micro-
biologists marvel at the
ve risimilitude of the
300 or so models.
The scientific accu-
racy of the models bor-
ders on the obsessive:
the paramecium is ani-
mated by 2500 individ-
ually positioned cilia,
the surface of an
influenza virus is stud-
ded with haemagglu-
tinin tri m e rs
neuraminidase tetra-
mers, and the nearby
shigellae conjugat e ,
p r o p e r l y. S u s p e n d e d
overhead, a microbial
Interactive scan of the human body trail guides the viewer
THE LANCET • Vol 353 • June 12, 1999
through the exhibition’s serpentine
layout.
Less successful are the interactive
computer displays that attempt to lead
the viewer through complex biological
s e q u e n c e s. One computer game
requires that macrophages, T cells,
and B cells be dragged across the
screen to activate an
immune response. B u t
baulky touch screens,
s o f t ware glitches, a n d
unintuitive design baffle
even the 13-year-olds. No
such problems plague the
t e c h n o l o gically ancient
m u t o s c o p e s. Children
and adults crowd around
the 90-year-old machines
for their chance to drop
in a penny, crank the han-
dle, and peer through the
viewfinder at a simple
morality tale about
disease wrought by sex,
b l o o d , f o o d , or skin
contact.
The subsequent dis-
plays on disease epidemics are vivid
and well-researched stage sets. An
a i r-conditioner blows air into the
Legionnaires’ hall, and a tubercular
tenement house is horrifyingly
realistic. John Snow’s pump stands
across the aisle from disembodied nee-
dle-sharing arms and a plague-infested
merchant ship. Children hurry past
these scary exhibits and into the per-
ve rse comfort of panoramic video
screens showing the 1918 influenza
pandemic and the world war that
facilitated it.
Epidemic! The Wo rld of Infe c t i o u s
D i s e a s e uses media strat e gies and
modern technology to promote the
p rinciples of a natural history
museum. The result is entertaining
and artful, and conveys the marvel of
biological dive rs i t y, the wonder of
scientific discovery, and the myriad
interactions between human beings
and the natural world. At the exit, I
asked 12-year-old Nick about the
exhibition. He loved the show, but he
c o u l d n ’t quite remember the
difference between a virus and a
bacterium.
and
Farzad Mostashari
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, and New York City
Department of Health, 125 Worth Street,
Box 22A, New York, NY 10013, USA
2081