Description
A provocative call for the transformation of science museums into "idea colliders" that spark creative collaborations and connections.
Today's science museums descend from the Kunst-und Wunderkammern of the Renaissance--collectors' private cabinets of curiosities--through the Crystal Palace exhibition of 1851 to today's "interactive" exhibits promising educational fun. In this book, Michael John Gorman issues a provocative call for the transformation of science museums and science centers from institutions dedicated to the transmission of cultural capital to dynamic "idea colliders" that spark creative collaborations and connections. This new kind of science museum would not stage structured tableaux of science facts but would draw scientists into conversation with artists, designers, policymakers, and the public. Rather than insulating visitors from each other with apps and audio guides, the science museum would consider each visitor a resource, bringing questions, ideas, and experiences from a unique perspective.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1: The Edge Effect
Chapter 2: Three tales from the future
Chapter 3. Rise of the Hybrids
Chapter 4: Safe Sex in the Academic Realm: The Science Gallery Experiment
WINDOWS: Ten Shifts: Redefining Cultural Institutions
Chapter 5: The Biological Turn
Chapter 6: Piercing the Filter Bubble: Science museums and Social Capital
Chapter 7: From Incubators to Idea Colliders
Endnotes
