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| Museums of Italy |
| National Museum of Science and Technology "Leonardo da Vinci" |
| Via S. Vittore 21 - 20123 Milano (Lombardy) |
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Opening Hours:
Tuesday-Friday : 9.30 - 17.00
Weekends: 9.30 - 18.30
Closing days:
Working Mondays
1st of January, 25th of December
Tel. +39 02 485551
Fax +39 02 48010016
www.museoscienza.org |
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| With its twenty-eight sections, from information technology to engines to astronomy,
some 40 000 square metres of displays, and a massive 15 000 pieces in its collection, the "Leonardo da Vinci"
National Museum of Science and Technology in Milan is one of the most important technical and scientific museums
in the world. The museum is made up of three separate buildings: the Monumental Building, which is a former Olivetan
monastery whose construction dates back to the early sixteenth century; the Rail Transport Building and the Air&Sea
Transport Building. |
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the Monumental Building
The monumental building houses a number of important sections: the Computer
Science section is devoted to the history of computation from a 17th-century abacus to a second-generation IBM
computer; the Time Measurement section keeps a large collection of sand-glasses and watches; the section devoted
to Acustics displays instruments for sound reproduction, from Edison's phonograph to the most recent models. The
Print and Graphical Arts section gathers wood presses inspired to Gutenberg's, as well as iron presses and cylinder
machines. A section also ilustrates the history of photography until moving pictures, while a very rich collection
is devoted to telephones, radio and television. The Permanent Show of Recent Innovations (that displays new items
on a six-month rota) keeps the most innovative technological products on the market, selected by a special scientific
committee.
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The Leonardo Gallery
This is the most important section of the gallery, displaying a great number
of wooden machines and instrument models based on Leonardo's designs: war and flying machines, models of bridges
and defensive works, the maquette of the ideal town, and every sort of scientific instruments. Some large-scale
machines can even work.
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The Rail Transport Building
The Rail Transport Building is one of the most impressive areas in the
Museum. It is the recreation of an Art Nouveau railway station housing a large fleet of steam locomotives and electric
engines. The Museum's collection includes memorabilia and recreations focusing on railways under construction,
bridges, tunnel digging (a specific section is dedicated to this subject area), safety, a train's instruments,
rail telecommunications, etc.
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Air & Sea Transport Building
Created in the 1960s, this building is a particularly interesting part of the Museum in that it contains the schooner
"EBE" and the bridge of the transatlantic liner "Conte Biancamano". On the upper floor there
are models reconstructing the history of aviation, as well as twelve original aeroplanes , and a substantial collection
of aeronautical motors. The view looking down onto the "Ebe" is spectacular.
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