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On Aug 31, 2005, at 4:01 PM, Glen Moore wrote:
>
> We have an exhibition under construction called 'Changing World'. Your 
> material certainly sounds as though it would be of interest! Could I 
> receive a copy of your paper?
>

Sounds like an important exhibit, Glen.  Can we bother you for a brief 
synopsis?  Anyone else doing issues exhibits out there?  Please, lets 
hear about them.    Do you know about the exhibit  "Massive Change"?   
Go check it out on line, Massivechange.com   It opens in Chicago 
September 16th at the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art next, having 
been in Vancouver and Toronto so far.  Any science center person worth 
their salt within traveling distance should go see it.  There are 
things to critique about it- the tone leaves visitors feeling like the 
design and implementation of solutions to our major problems is a done 
deal- but it gets a whole lot right and is breathtaking in its scope.
It's a highly pertinent exhibit to our time, about science and 
technology and it's not being shown at science centers.  Why not?  
Here's a partial answer:

© 2004-2005 Massive Change is a project by Bruce Mau Design and the  
Institute without Boundaries, commissioned and organized by the 
Vancouver Art Gallery.


Hurrah for the Vancouver Art Gallery!

Glen, there is also an exhibit based on Jared Diamond's excellent book 
"Collapse- How societies choose to fail or succeed"   
http://www.nhm.org/exhibitions/collapse/preview.html

Jared's book is must reading for us all.   As the aftermath of 
hurricane Katrina is reminding North America, civilization is a fragile 
thing, dependent on so many systems and people working together.  We 
are in danger of collapse, most especially here in North America with 
our incredibly inefficient vehicles out-eating their food source and 
causing global warming to boot.

Folks, we are in an amazing age.  We have more knowledge than ever 
before, but we are using up or otherwise not taking care of the 
resources we all need to live.  Don't  Science centers have a social 
responsibility to cover Science and technology issues central to the 
quality of our lives?   So where are we at?  Who's doing what?

Clifford Wagner 
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