ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
*****************************************************************************

Charley;

Not all. There are many exceptions and "cross overs" to what you describe.

Martin

On Wed, Mar 30, 2011 at 9:19 PM, Charlie Carlson <[log in to unmask]
> wrote:

> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
> institutions.
>
> *****************************************************************************
>
> Hi All,
> If I were to take a pass at this.  The hallmark of science centers is a
> focus on emotional and intellectual engagement, they're a somewhat
> theatrical production of science with an attention to verisimilitude.
> Engagement varies with people, cultures and social recognition and time.  It
> will into the foreseeable future.
>
> A Science Center experience builds upon initiate human capabilities and
> desires: these include things like an acquisition of knowledge, sensory
> engagement, exposure to a variety of different stimuli, sharing, social
> contextualization, parenting, childing, theorizing, hypothesis formation,
> testing, tool manipulation and instrument building.  We all do these things
> to different degrees.  These initiate capabilities and tendencies have been
> and continue to be selected for and form a distinct advantage in variable
> and changing environments and build upon one another.  They are all vital to
> our existence.
>
> Science centers are an expression of an individuality of approach, which is
> inherent in every brain and its development.  As such they reflect a
> movement away from more regimented experiences and towards a broader set of
> metrics which correspond to individual proclivities. They are about
> empowering the observer participant.  They are about non-conformity and
> theory testing.
>
> As with most museums of note, Science Centers share a profound devotion to
> evidence and the growth of human knowledge, but we typically differ with
> respect to regard for object and institution.
>
> It would all be vaporware, if we didn't need to eat, meet, or mate.
> C
>
>
>

-- 
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Martin Weiss, PhD
Science Interpretation, Consultant
New York Hall of Science
mweiss at nyscience.org
347-460-1858

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