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New Science Museum - Now With Real Science!

Posted by timothy on from the sciencey-goodness dept.

OpenYourEyes writes "There is a new science museum, run by the National Academy of Science, that has opened in DC. So what? Unklike many museums which simplify their message or use fake data, the exhibits at the Koshland Science Museum are all based on real research, real reports, and real science. Each one contains references to the research reports and data they are based on. Exhibits on DNA, for example, use actual (and long!) DNA sequences to help illustrate how DNA plays a role in disease, agriculture, and criminology. There are also exhibits on Global Climate Change and The Wonders of Science."

4 of 242 comments (clear)

  1. Finally! by Autumnmist · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Finally! I've long outgrown the simplified explanations of the Boston Museum of Science (though it's still a lot of fun to visit) and the various science-related exhibits touring places like the Museum of Natural History in NY. Definitely putting this one down on my list of places to visit. Just because we're not in middle school anymore doesn't mean we lost that same curiosity...

    --
    --- "Many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view." ~ Ben Kenobi, 'Return of the Jedi'
  2. My take.. by hookedup · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Unklike many museums which simplify their message
    I doubt they do this because they want to, think about it.. joe average would much rather see flashy presentations than boring old research papers. It's sad but true.. and museums have to do this in order to bring people in..

    1. Re:My take.. by slackerboy · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Hey, let's face it, most scientists and researchers would rather see flashy presentations than boring old research papers (at least outside of their areas of expertise).

      I quick flip through the website shows that they still have a flashy presentation, but then you have the option of looking at further reading (both scientific journals and popular media) and other websites. This is a definite improvement and I think it may be the museum equivalent of making the source code available. ("Hey, we're not just BSing, take a look at the research that backs us up!")

      --
      Things to do today: See list of things to do yesterday
  3. Science is not facts on parade . . . by StateOfTheUnion · · Score: 5, Insightful
    I've long complained about science museums as childish, not giving science its full credit, and not giving the patrons a good understanding of the intricacies, complexity, and beauty of the scientific world. Of course I don't expect a museum to explain quantum mechanics in detail, but I do expect some idea of the evidence and data and perhaps a bit of the process that led us to the conclusion that we commonly accept as fact (After all we do call that the Scientific method).

    So many museums have pretty diagrams showing "facts" but not much of the thinking that shows how we discovered and got to those facts (or conclusions or theories as the case may be).

    Science is not facts. It's not bullets. It's not a list of terms describing a cross section of the earth. It's problem solving, experimentation, cross examination, peer review, drawing conclusions, making inferences, designing experiements . . . it encompasses higher thought processes than memorization of facts. Why don't most of the museums make an effort to show this?