Then maybe you'd like to explore some other philosophical ideas. Visit "With Liberty and Justice for All," and you can see how these concepts were debated in New England taverns, how they took root in revolution, were challenged by the Civil War and reinforced by the civil rights movement. You can see an original copy of the Declaration of Independence, the army cot where George Washington slept, the Montgomery bus in which Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat.

Maybe you'd like to consider how sports has impacted our lives. Visit "Baseball As America," a traveling exhibit that will be at the Henry Ford Museum through Sept. 5, and see not only great baseball memorabilia but how the game has been woven into society.

Maybe you'd like to think about something as simple as chairs. Look at the late 1700s red-upholstered chair that served as the speaker's chair in the first United States House of Representatives — one of America's earliest seats of power. Smile at the bright blue "Marshmallow Sofa," named for its 18 round seat cushions. Reflect on the rocking chair where Abraham Lincoln sat in Ford's Theater on the night John Wilkes Booth changed history with a single gunshot.

The museum itself covers 12 acres. Every artifact has a story; every one demonstrates an idea.

And that's just the beginning of The Henry Ford.

In Greenfield Village, you can wander through the actual homes of more men of ideas — not only Ford, but also the Wright Brothers, Thomas Edison, George Washington Carver, Noah Webster and so many more.

After visiting Edison's lab in the Village, you can go to the Henry Ford IMAX Theatre — the latest extension of Edison's pioneering work with moving pictures. The theater presents current releases, cinema classics and feature-length documentaries that showcase American popular culture and the American experience.

If you want to delve more deeply into any area of American life, the Benson Ford Research Center offers access to more than a million documents and records. The reading room is open to the public daily; for in-depth research, appointments are encouraged.

The Rouge Factory Tour is another mind-stretching experience. Buses leave from the Henry Ford Museum (you get a ticket for a specific time). The tour begins with a short background film on Ford and the Rouge (named for the river) complex. Then you move on to a 360-degree, multiscreen theater where you not only see the manufacturing process but feel it, hear it, smell it, become a part of it.