Facing each other from either end of Arthur Ross Terrace are the historic Natural History museum and the gleaming science of the Rose Center for Earth and Space. From one end to the other, a visitor can follow this progression through scientific history. The Terrace design was inspired by an illustration of the conical shadows cast by an eclipsing moon. Hayden Planetarium’s sphere was seen as an eclipsing moon that would cast shadows across the plaza. The wedge-shaped “shadows” of granite carry the sphere’s exploratory presence to the historic doorstep of the Museum on the other side of the terrace. This calls attention to the importance of recognizing the historic basis of knowledge when new frontiers are pursued in science.
