ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
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Oh, Joe, you and I were probably standing next to each other in front of the elephants at AMNH!!! I am absolutely convinced that that's what made me want to go into this field.
I've been equally fascinated by the trend you referenced. Think back over all the science centers that had their roots as natural history museums - Minnesota, St. Louis, Boston…I think we should take a lesson from what we practice - let's remember that our visitors have many different learning styles, some people do better in one environment than another, and people have different interests. It's never been about who's better, but how do we collectively as a field(s?) help people understand the world around them.
(That's my Hallmark moment…)
Beryl
On May 8, 2013, at 2:01 PM, Joe Ruggiero wrote:
ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
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Believe me, I love both natural history museums and art museums. They are wonderful places. I spent my youth going to the American Museum of Natural History. Visiting it with my father is one of my strongest childhood memories, and has shaped who I am today as much as any other other collected experiences. I continued going all through the time I lived in NY. Even living in AZ now, I have managed to take my son there three times, the first when he was just four.
Interactive play has it's place, but to suggest that a natural history museum is not a purveyor of curiosity hasn't turned the corner in a dark hallway and been confronted by a pack of timber wolfs hunting its prey or felt the weight of 100' long blue whale hanging over their head. I guess my point - poorly made - is that you just can't see all the wonderful things in most natural history museums in your everyday life. Not too many T-rex's out there on the street (though we do have one here here in Tucson!). The awful - the awe inspiring objects that line their halls, deserve their place.
To be honest, the move in recent years (maybe the last 20) to make Natural History Museums more like the current crop of today's science centers of is a step backwards. Most natural history museums do what they do very well. The same can not be said for most science centers. I love those dusty displays under glass. There is beauty and curiosity in everyone of them.
Joe R.
On 5/8/2013 10:36 AM, Carlyn S Buckler wrote:
ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
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As someone who works in a Natural History Museum and Nature Center, don't we all talk about the "everyday"? Helping the public to understand and appreciate the beauty and importance of the Natural World around us? And although the "Idea" blog post does make some good points, the old adage of Natural History Museums as being dusty places with things under glass is, for the most part, gone. Yes - we have collections and do research; but we use technology, tons of interactive; heck, we have an interactive Glacier in our museum, Gorge Walks at our Nature Center, Fossil trips, pit digs, music and science camps…
To claim that science centers are the unique purveyors of curiosity and interactive play is short sighted, to say the least. Earth science/natural history museums, nature centers, zoos and aquaria - this idea of evoking curiosity and play with the natural world around us, and gaining an understanding and appreciation for the beauty and majesty or our world – and it's history – is an integral part of our mission. To be sure, we would never get anyone through the door without it.
Come see our Glacier – Go see Sue – the Hall of Man – walk up and look one of John Gurche's hominids in the eye at the Smithsonian and tell me you aren't awe-struck with wonder and amazement, and completely curious about that nature of these things.
Carlyn S. Buckler, Ph.D.
Paleontological Research Institution
Ithaca, NY
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