City systems

Civilization Museum · 02

Universe, Matter & Natural Laws

From planets in the sky to structures inside matter and the slowly changing Earth, this wall follows how cats gradually came to understand the world they inhabit.

Looking Up

Copernicus Cat studies a Sun-centered celestial chart in a nighttime observatory.
01

Copernicus Cat

Copernicus Cat rearranged the sky as cats understood it: Earth is not at the center of the universe, and it moves as well.

Kepler Cat revises an elliptical planetary orbit among observation records.
02

Kepler Cat

Kepler Cat let observations correct the idea of perfect circular orbits. Planets travel in ellipses, and their speed changes along the way.

Newton Cat, with long curled hair, performs a prism experiment in a study.
03

Newton Cat

Newton Cat connected motion on Earth with motion in the sky. Gravity makes objects fall and helps keep moons and planets in orbit.

Inside Matter

Mendeleev Cat places an element card into an empty space in the periodic table.
04

Mendeleev Cat

Mendeleev Cat found a repeating order among many different elements. Empty spaces in the table could even point toward members not yet discovered.

Curie Cat carefully observes a faintly glowing sample vial in a quiet laboratory.
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Curie Cat

Curie Cat studied radioactivity through patient, sustained measurement. Matter is not always quiet and unchanged; it can release radiation and energy.

Rutherford Cat points to a gold-foil scattering apparatus and a simple atomic diagram.
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Rutherford Cat

Rutherford Cat learned from deflected particles that atoms are not solid balls. Most of an atom is empty space, with a tiny nucleus at its center.

Planck Cat studies a stepped energy-level diagram at a quiet desk.
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Planck Cat

Planck Cat found that energy is not always exchanged continuously at microscopic scales. Nature sometimes changes in distinct portions.

Einstein Cat explains light and curved spacetime in a warm study.
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Einstein Cat

Einstein Cat rethought time, space, light, and gravity. They are not a permanently fixed background, but are connected and vary with conditions.

Reading Earth

Hutton Cat examines a rock cross-section beside layered cliffs and a stream.
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Hutton Cat

Hutton Cat revealed the immense depth of Earth’s history. Slow erosion, deposition, and uplift can shape strata and valleys over deep time.

Wegener Cat holds a pipe in one paw while fitting continent pieces together on a map table.
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Wegener Cat

Wegener Cat noticed matching continental outlines, rock layers, and fossils. He proposed that continents were once joined and drift over immense spans of time.