Flori Pierri

@flori-p

Associate curator of science & technology at the MIT Museum | historian of science | really likes armadillos | currently thinking about computer games 🌈

443 Siguiendo671 Seguidores369 Publicaciones

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¿Es tu perfil?Reclámalo y flori-p.dirty.social es tuyo.Reclamar perfil

Flori Pierri@flori-p· 11d

A small one, sure! Here's a student who built a nuclear reactor for his undergrad thesis. (mitmuseum.mit.edu/collections/...) But a big one? 🫣😬🫣

Flori Pierri@flori-p· 12d

I see your adorable sharks and I raise you this 19th century watercolor of a whale with really bad teeth. (MIT Museum, AF-NJ-A011)

Watercolor depicting a whale in side view as a wave crashes over its back. The whale is spouting and facing left. At left is a line of kanji characters and a red ink stamp. The stamp is the artist's mark.

Flori Pierri@flori-p· 12d

Call me crazy, but I'm not sure that I want a student to operate a nuclear reactor....

Flori Pierri@flori-p· Jun 18

I am (ever so slowly) getting back into computer game research for upcoming Untitled Computer Game Exhibition at the MIT Museum. And since so many video/computer game people follow me... a question for you all. What would *you* most like to see in a computer game exhibition?

Screenshot of a magazine. Text reads "Output-Input / Drop me a line, on-line"

Flori Pierri@flori-p· Jun 17

It's 1982, and the lukewarmest game is Spectravision's Reaganomics-- the game where you... balance budgets!

Flori Pierri@flori-p· Jun 3

It's 1982, and there are only 347 video games in existence. And the magazine *Electronic Fun* is going to rank them all on an A-F scale. Grade inflation clearly hasn't hit yet-- there are no A+ grades.

Screenshot of a digitized magazine. Headline: "Video Game Explosion!"

Flori Pierri@flori-p· Apr 9

I'll be at #TedXMIT this Saturday talking a cross country electric car race... from 1968! If you're in Boston, come to the MIT Museum at 2:30 to learn just how many fires occurred along the way. 🔥 ⚡ 🔋 🏁 Register here: luma.com/mdx3v716

The back of a 1968 Chevy Corvair with wires coming out of the trunk. The license plate reads "TECH"

Flori Pierri@flori-p· Mar 9

Another favorite is "European Travellers" where you can learn all about the people of continent. I am sad we don't have "The Produce of England" by the same publisher... mitmuseum.mit.edu/collections/...

Flori Pierri@flori-p· Mar 9

And look at this nice copy of The Royal Game of the Dolphin [not whale, my bad!] (1821) we have! mitmuseum.mit.edu/collections/...

Flori Pierri@flori-p· Mar 9

One less charming thing was this ad for floppy disks that I think is doing a mild homophobia (?). At the very least, it's definitely doing *something*

Flori Pierri@flori-p· Mar 9

One charming thing was the snapshots he took from when he got the kits (from Santa, natch!).

Flori Pierri@flori-p· Feb 6

Today in cataloguing recent acquisitions: A handy guide to computer terms (from The User's Guide, 1984)

Flori Pierri@flori-p· Jun 27

In cataloging a collection (I'd say recent acquisition, but it came into the museum in 1996 🫠), I came across an witheringly devastating burn. "You may never have heard of his theory, but you certainly missed nothing." mitmuseum.mit.edu/collections/...

Flori Pierri@flori-p· May 9

“This should be a trigger warning— it’s a syllabus” 😂😂😂 @profnoctis.bsky.social at #PAXEast talks about his class Mythos to Logos, which uses Final Fantasy games to teach religious studies.

Flori Pierri@flori-p· May 8

There’s some Market Basket product placement at #PaxEast 😂

Flori Pierri@flori-p· Apr 3

I don’t think that it was curatorially necessary for me to be around for the mounting of the narwhal tusk, but it sure did make me happy!

A person wearing a brown dress, purple cardigan, and green boots standing next to a narwhal tusk mounted onto a black board.

Flori Pierri@flori-p· Mar 28

This was a fun thing to see in the reference queue. What gets me is the 'sent from my iphone' at the end. Our reference assistant is top notch and definitely not a grub. Be in touch if you want to license any of the MIT Museum's images for your next publication. mitmuseum.mit.edu/collections/...

screenshot of a Hubspot request. Text reads "Spoken like a True Academic. / Absolutely Worthless Human Being. Not a DECISION MAKER. A GRUB eating the entrails out of the HOST.
Sent from my iPhone"

Flori Pierri@flori-p· Mar 20

And right next to them, two versions of the same 18th century ship, the Great Harry.

Flori Pierri@flori-p· Mar 20

Are you heading to Boston for #RSA2025 and find yourself with some time to kill? We have no shortage of museums, but for something a little off the beaten track, you can visit these two delightful early modern whales, currently on display in "Moving Objects" at the MIT Museum in Cambridge.

Monochrome engraving depicting, in foreground, Jonah upon a shell-strewn beach after having been spat up by the whale, which is behind him, spouting. Jonah is bearded and almost nude, save for some drapery, and the whale has very large fish-like eyes. In the background, the scene of Jonah being thrown off the boat and the whale opening its mouth to receive him is depicted; further back, there is a coastal city with domes and arches. Text at bottom of page reads "152) Jonah cast over board / Jonah 1"

An image of the whale spitting Jonah up onto a shell-covered beach. A sailing ship and a harbor city are visible in the background. The composition bears notable similarity to AF-JX-0209, but is not a direct copy, and the style is different. At the top of the page, in a heart-shape, the number "152" is printed. At the bottom right the engraver's name, P.P. Bouche, is given. Under the image is the following text: "Captaine John Bromhill of Black-wall in the Country of Middlesex Gent, For advancement of this Worke, Contributed this Plate."

Flori Pierri@flori-p· Mar 20

“Utopia Ltd” poster, 1969. From the tremendously good MIT Office of Design Services.

Blue poster with the words “Utopia Ltd” repeating along the top

Flori Pierri@flori-p· Mar 20

He looks like the sweet buttercup we adopted from the streets of Baltimore. 10/10 recommend a Baltimore alley cat, even if she does keep rummaging in the trash.

Flori Pierri@flori-p· Mar 14

Hello beautiful. William Ware, Sketch of a capital, circa 1870. mitmuseum.mit.edu/collections/...

Charcoal drawing of a column capital with leaf motifs; sketch on off-white paper. Initials 'WRW" rubbed into charcoal background.

Flori Pierri@flori-p· Mar 4

I just love seeing what's going through the digitization pipeline, mostly for the sheer randomness of it all. Wedgewood plates! Brochures! Protests of the 2023 and the 1970 variety! Ship plans! and so much more!

screenshot of a digital asset management system showing a grid of recently uploaded photos.

Flori Pierri@flori-p· Feb 7

I'm processing records of photographs taken at the MIT Radiation Laboratory during WWII, and this photo was titled "Dr. G. Goldman and his equipment. And I can't help but wonder... is the dude in the adult-sized crib part of the equipment?!?

Two men (one sitting and one standing) are looking several pieces of scientific equipment. To the right, an adult lies face down in what looks like a crib made out of wood and chicken wire.

Flori Pierri@flori-p· Jan 29

How I want all of my emails to find me.

Flori Pierri@flori-p· Jan 27

When I was still dissertating and a very heavy user of Google Books (and very occasional user of The Site Formerly Known as Bird), I'd post the accidental Google scan hands I came across. This one (from Thomas Beale's The natural history of the sperm whale) is the first one I've seen in a long time.

a hand wearing protective finger sheaths is turning a page. The page being turned is blurry.

Flori Pierri@flori-p· Jan 10

Maybe next year I'll be a giant glass of coca cola or a can of Karo corn syrup..... (MIT Museum, GCP-00067067 mitmuseum.mit.edu/collections/...)

a group of men standing in a line. All of the men are dressed in costume, and the costumes include a tin of Mazola oil, a box of corn starch, a can of Karo corn syrup, and a large glass labeled "Drink Coca-Cola"

Flori Pierri@flori-p· Dec 23

A variety of snowflake forms, from Cornelis Gijsbertsz Zorgdrager's Alte und neue Grönländische Fischerei und Wallfischfang (1723) Sheet from the MIT Museum, AF-ND-0738 mitmuseum.mit.edu/collections/...

An engraving that has been stylized to look like the figure is drawn on a piece of paper nailed to a board. The figure itself represents a variety of snowflake forms, labeled A-F and No.1 through No.6.

Flori Pierri@flori-p· Dec 18

How do I become a member so I can hang out in this lounge for the Museum of Modern Art? I.M. Pei, "Members Lounge for the Museum of Modern Art" (1940) mitmuseum.mit.edu/collections/...

Flori Pierri@flori-p· Dec 17

Along with a book that used to be in the Infocom library. If he gets around to returning it, I bet the fines are going to be astounding.