Robert Learner on dinosaur ditties, museum serenades
Dinosaurs inspire awe. They also inspire song. Just ask Robert Learner, former director of the Kingman Museum of Natural History.
"I discovered that there were many poems written by many science people about dinosaurs and other subjects," said Learner, who started turning these poems into folk songs in the 1960s. "I took the three guitar chords that I knew and applied them to these poems. I had no real aim, I just really enjoyed it."
Enjoyment turned into educational entertainment and, later, a published anthology titled "Dinosaur Songs and Other Museum Music."
Learner has performed these science songs in classrooms, libraries, museums and universities around the country. Saturday, he will give two concerts at Kingman Museum, closing out their "Prehistoric Life" exhibit with a selection of dinosaur ditties and museum serenades.
"Museums are really important learning centers," Learner said. "And anything that is really special has to have a song."
Learner's performance is part of Kingman Museum's "Big Molt/New Skin" revitalization campaign, which adds art to the traditional STEM model (science, technology, engineering, math), making STEAM.
"There is a lot of different ways that people learn and sometimes technical subjects are difficult for people to grasp," said Heather Stratton, Kingman's education, outreach and special events manager. "By adding the art component we are able to engage people in a different way."
Stratton points to Learner's natural braiding of art and science.
"They [the songs] have facts but it is a different way to present the information to somebody who might think the historical lecture would be boring," Stratton said. "A folk song on the guitar might catch them."
A university-educated scientist, Learner is a self-taught musician. He bought his first and only guitar in Mexico City in 1958. He learned to play by imitating musicians he admired and playing with friends.
While writing an article for the Cleveland Museum of Natural History in the early 1980s, Learner included two science songs. One was "The Pterosaur of Ptexas," a poem written by Ohio State University professor Robert L. Bates. Learner extended his readers an invitation.
"I said if anyone had any museum songs they would like to share, I would be happy to receive them," Learner said.
People were happy to send them. As word spread, poems and music arrived from all over the country and the world, including Argentina, Holland and Kenya. Eventually, Learner wrote some of his own lyrics, composing songs inspired by scientific theories and investigations.
"I just enjoy the discovery of something new and the information you can share in a song," Learner said.
During Learner's tenure as Kingman Museum director (1971-1997), the museum was still part of the Battle Creek Public School system. Learner mentioned his hobby to Charles Kirsch, the school's music director. Kirsch invited Learner to play before an administrative meeting.
"The first song was 'Behold the Mighty Dinosaur'," Learner said, chuckling.
He was a hit. Learner played more meetings. Teachers invited him into the classroom. Meanwhile, word was spreading outside of Battle Creek.
"I started to get calls from museums around the country," Learner said.
Learner performed for the Witte Museum in San Antonio, the National Science Teachers Association conference in Chicago, children museums in Nashville and Indianapolis, the Minnesota Science Center, Yale University, Rice University, several times for Kingman Museum, and once with the Battle Creek Boychoir.
After retiring in 1997, Learner published his anthology. The slim volume includes original illustrations by his wife, artist Joanna Learner. Each of the 14 selections includes a brief essay on the science behind the verses and hints on setting it to music.
"The Iridium Connection," Learner's ode to the theory that a meteorite wiped out the dinosaurs, contains this amusing note: "My music for this song sounds like the Wabash Cannonball having a race with the Delta Queen…in E."
The book includes a companion CD of Learner's renditions, which he recorded in his basement.
"It is awfully easy to make a mistake while you are recording," Learner said. "I would record over 70-80 times to get a recording that didn't have a glitch in it."
The result is both artistic and scientific.
Learner will perform at 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. at the Kingman Museum. The concert is included in the price of admission. Copies of "Dinosaur Songs and Other Museum Music" will be available for sale.
Visitors to the "Prehistoric Life" exhibit will find dinosaur artifacts, insects and plant life displays, and an interactive cave that is wheelchair accessible.
If you go
• WHAT: Dinosaur Songs and Other Museum Music.
• WHEN: 1 and 2 p.m. Saturday.
• WHERE: Kingman Museum, 175 Limit St.
• COST: Concert included in museum admission: $7 adults, $6 seniors and military/veterans, $5 students, $20 families up to 6; free for members and ages 2 and younger.
• INFO: Visitors to the "Prehistoric Life" exhibit will find dinosaur artifacts, insects and plant life displays, and an interactive cave that is wheelchair accessible. Copies of "Dinosaur Songs and Other Museum Music" will be available for sale. For more information, call 965-5117.