Doreen Miller

HALL OF IDEAS®
The Hall of Ideas is a celebration of our common heritage—the great ideas that have inspired individuals and transformed society throughout the ages. A neoclassical hall built in 1934, the renovated Hall welcomes visitors to The Mary Baker Eddy Library.
An original work of art created by acclaimed glass sculptor Howard Ben Tré serves as the centerpiece of this grand hall. The cast glass and bronze sculpture acts as a fountain of constantly changing quotations from some of history’s most influential thinkers.
In a unique collaboration with media designer David Small, a graduate of the MIT Media Lab, state-of-the-art computer programming is used to project words and ideas throughout the Hall of Ideas. The quotes bubble up from the center of the basin of water in the fountain, flow around the rim toward observers, and finally overflow onto the floor and up the walls onto scrims. 

MAPPARIUM®
Since 1935, more than 10 million people have traversed the thirty-foot glass bridge that spans the Mapparium, taking visitors to a unique spot: the middle of the world.
This world-famous, three-story, stained-glass globe is one of the key attractions at the Library. The Mapparium’s three-dimensional perspective of the world of 1935 is enhanced by A World of Ideas, an original presentation that features a rich orchestration of words, music, and LED lights to illustrate how ideas have traversed time and geography and changed the world.
Learn more about the history of the Mapparium and its architect, Chester Lindsay Churchill. Explore how the 1935 world map inside the Mapparium, which has never been updated, serves as a remarkable snapshot of both geographic and global history. Discover major changes in the world since 1935 like Africa’s movement from colonial rule to independence and learn more about how global change happens.

QUEST GALLERY
The Quest Gallery, located on the second floor of The Mary Baker Eddy Library, is a space where visitors can explore the extraordinary life of Mary Baker Eddy including her achievements and ideas.
The gallery gives visitors a glimpse of nineteenth-century life and they begin their exploration by examining photographs, documents, and images related to the medical, cultural, and religious history of mid-nineteenth century America. The exhibits then give the story behind the writing and publishing of Eddy’s primary work, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, and the events that grew out of it.
All areas of the gallery feature computer-based learning stations where visitors can explore Mary Baker Eddy’s Quest, the Quest of others exploring their life journeys, and the Quest Adventure Game—a game in which you can problem-solve on a journey up a mountain.
A significant part of Mary Baker Eddy’s life was her use of scrap books to chronicle her life’s journey as well as significant events of her day. Before leaving the Quest Gallery visitors are invited to use a set of computers where they can create their own inspirational scrap book images and project them above the entrance stairwell.