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

Ah! Good point Martin, but it is a question of necessary and sufficient conditions.  It's not possible to have a museum without a collection and it is possible to have a science center without one.  This is not to exclude cross-overs and hybrids. 

Or so my distinction would run.
C

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Charles Carlson
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On Mar 31, 2011, at 5:59 AM, Martin Weiss <[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.
> *****************************************************************************
> 
> 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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