---
title: "Science museum"
chunk: 2/2
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_museum"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T04:28:52.227996+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

Museums that brand themselves as science centres emphasise a hands-on approach, featuring interactive exhibits that encourage visitors to experiment and explore.
Recently, there has been a push for science museums to be more involved in science communication and educating the public about the scientific process. Microbiologist and science communicator Natalia Pasternak Taschner stated, "I believe that science museums can promote critical thinking, especially in teenagers and young adults, by teaching them about the scientific method and the process of science, and how by using this to develop knowledge and technology, we can be less wrong."
Urania was a science centre founded in Berlin in 1888. Most of its exhibits were destroyed during World War II, as were those of a range of German technical museums. The Academy of Science of Saint Louis (founded in 1856) created the Saint Louis Museum of Science and Natural History in 1959 (Saint Louis Science Center), but generally science centres are a product of the 1960s and later. In the United Kingdom, many were founded as Millennium projects, with funding from the National Lotteries Fund.
The first "science centre" in the United States was the Science Center of Pinellas County, founded in 1959. The Pacific Science Center (one of the first large organisations to call itself a "science centre" rather than a museum), opened in a Seattle World's Fair building in 1962.
In 1969, Oppenheimer's Exploratorium opened in San Francisco, California, and the Ontario Science Centre opened near Toronto, Ontario, Canada. By the early 1970s, COSI Columbus, then known as the Center of Science and Industry in Columbus, Ohio, had run its first "camp-in".
In 1983, the Smithsonian Institution invited visitors to the Discovery Room in the newly opened National Museum of Natural History Museum Support Center in Suitland, Maryland, where they could touch and handle formerly off-limits specimens.
The new-style museums banded together for mutual support. In 1971, 16 museum directors gathered to discuss the possibility of starting a new association; one more specifically tailored to their needs than the existing American Association of Museums (now the American Alliance of Museums). As a result of this, the Association of Science-Technology Centers was formally established in 1973, headquartered in Washington DC, but with an international organisational membership.
The corresponding European organisation is Ecsite, and in the United Kingdom, the Association of Science and Discovery Centres represents the interests of over 60 major science engagement organisations. The Asia Pacific Network of Science and Technology Centres (ASPAC) is an association initiated in 1997 with over 50 members from 20 countries across Asia and Australia (2022). Their regional sister organisations are the Network for the Popularization of Science and Technology in Latin America and The Caribbean (RedPOP), the North Africa and Middle East science centres (NAMES), and the Southern African Association of Science and Technology Centres (SAASTEC). In India, the National Council of Science Museums runs science centres at several places including Delhi, Bhopal, Nagpur and Ranchi. There are also a number of private Science Centres, including the Birla Science Museum and The Science Garage in Hyderabad.

== See also ==
List of science museums
Science education
Science festival
Science outreach
Physics outreach
List of natural history museums

== References ==

== General references ==
Kaushik, R.,1996, "Effectiveness of Indian science centres as learning environments : a study of educational objectives in the design of museum experiences", Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Leicester, UK
Kaushik, R.,1996, "Non-science-adult-visitors in science centres: what is there for them to do?", Museological Review, Vol. 2, No. 1, p. 72–84.
Kaushik, R.,1996, "Health matters in science museums: a review" in Pearce, S. (ed.) New Research in Museum Studies, Vol. 6, Athlone Press, London/Atlantic Highlands, p. 186–193.
Kaushik, R.,1997, "Attitude development in science museums/centres", in Proceedings of the Nova Scotian Institute of Science, Vol. 40, No. 2, p. 1–12.

== Further reading ==
Holland, William Jacob (1911). "Museums of Science" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 19 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 64–69.

== External links ==