The Science Museum of Minnesota is inviting visitors to explore the inventor that’s hidden inside all of us. A brand new exhibit, opening Saturday, allows you to explore some of the greatest inventions of all time.

The exhibit, "Inventing Genius," is grounded in Leonardo da Vinci’s work. Kim Ramsden of the Science Museum of Minnesota tells us, “Da Vinci was probably one of the greatest thinkers and one of the most creative people of all time.”

Da Vinci’s mind explored everything, including flying machines.

“This is one of my favorites. This is the Whirly Gig,” Ramsden showed FOX 9. “Not only is it just beautiful, but imagine in the 15th century thinking about flight. Thinking about humans in flight and the potential of where we could go and it’s also really beautifully designed.”

He even conceived the eight-sided mirror and also designed the world’s first armored personnel carrier. “And so he worked with the military on early submarines, the tank, cannons as well as a variety of different weaponry,” Ramsden says. “So even though his creative genius was used in many marvelous ways, it was also helpful the war effort as well.”

But the exhibit uses da Vinci as a bridge to the 101 greatest inventions of all time. The immersive media display highlights innovations that changed the world and gives kids the chance to change theirs.


"This is a fun section because we are going to take everything that we’ve learned and we’re going to apply it to ourselves and we’re going to build our own contraptions, and machines and flying machines and all sorts of things,” Ramsden said.

All in a new exhibit to uncover one’s hidden genius. “We just hope that whether you’re a kid or a kid at heart you would be inspired to create and STEM learning does that. So, taking apart these greatest creations into these most simplistic form is one way that we can do that here at the museum.”

Outside the exhibit, visitors can find the "Minnovation" display, highlighting inventions made right here in Minnesota. Some of those inventions include Spam, Post-Its and more.

The Inventing Genius exhibit opens at the Science Museum Saturday and runs through September 2.