08/23/2013

Rebooting Science Museums for the 21st Century

37:46 minutes

"Oscillator," an exhibition at Dublin's Science Gallery, launched in 2012 with a performance involving the reanimation of two freshly disembodied pig hearts obtained from animals used for meat. Credit: sciencegallery.com
“Oscillator,” an exhibition at Dublin’s Science Gallery, launched in 2012 with a performance involving the reanimation of two freshly disembodied pig hearts obtained from animals used for meat. Credit: sciencegallery.com

Science and natural history museums aren’t just dioramas and dusty skeletons anymore. Around the world, museum directors are reinventing their spaces for the 21st century, taking cues from art galleries and science cafes, hackerspaces and working labs—even the great outdoors.

Segment Guests

Scott Sampson

Scott Sampson is vice president of research and collections at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science in Denver, Colorado.

Ian Brunswick

Ian Brunswick is exhibition and events manager at the Science Gallery in Dublin, Ireland.

Kirk Johnson

Kirk Johnson is director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.

Beck Tench

Beck Tench is the director of innovation and digital engagement at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham, North Carolina.

Karen Wilkinson

Karen Wilkinson is director of The Tinkering Studio at the The Exploratorium in San Francisco, California.

Meet the Producer

About Christopher Intagliata

Christopher Intagliata was Science Friday’s senior producer. He once served as a prop in an optical illusion and speaks passable Ira Flatowese.