The doors themselves, made of cast bronze plates overlaid on wooden cores, are divided into eight panels each of which portrays a major figure in the history of science. From top to bottom and left to right when viewed facing the building, the panels depict Aristotle; Euclid; Galileo; Newton; Lyell; Darwin; Watt; and Pasteur.
Monday 8 AM–5 PM
Tuesday 8 AM–5 PM
Wednesday 8 AM–5 PM
Thursday 8 AM–5 PM
Friday 8 AM–5 PM
Saturday Closed
Sunday Closed
The memorial to Albert Einstein, situated in an elm and holly grove in the southwest corner of the Academy grounds, was unveiled at the Academy's annual meeting, April 22, 1979, in honor of the centennial of the great scientist's birth. Einstein is depicted seated on a three-step bench of Mount Airy (North Carolina) white granite. The bronze figure, weighing approximately 4 tons, is 12 feet in height. Three caissons, totaling 135 tons, sunk in bedrock to a depth of 23 to 25 feet, support the monument.
An unusual feature of the Board Room is a decorative light fixture, or electrolier, in the shape of a globe whose surface is painted to represent a map of the world, based largely on Leonardo da Vinci's map of 1515. The metal cage surrounding the globe is a depiction of a celestial globe or armillary sphere surrounding and enclosing the terrestrial globe. The celestial globe is ringed by figures of the zodiac, which has its origin in Babylonian star catalogues where it functioned as a celestial coordinate system. The Founders' Portrait, a painting by Albert Herter of President Abraham Lincoln signing the Academy's charter on March 3, 1863 in the presence of the founders, hangs above the marble fireplace of the Board Room.
