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| The absolutely gorgeous Palace of Fine Arts. All pics sourced from Wikipedia. |
One of the more special memories of my childhood was visiting the Exploratorium in San Francisco with my Mom and Dad. Back then it was located in the amazing Palace of Fine Arts and it was always impressive to go there, though it has since moved to Pier 15 where it resides today.
Frank Oppenheimer, bother of (the perhaps more famous) J. Robert Oppenheimer, both of whom were participants in the Manhattan Project, was the founder of the Exploratorium. Despite having been (correctly) accused of being a member of the communist party by the House Un-American Activities Committee and subsequently blacklisted from any physics teaching positions, he continued to hold a passion for science and was able to teach again in 1957.
In 1959, while working at the Physics department of the University of Colorado, he became enthralled with the idea of promoting/provoking more curiosity and inquiry into the various fields of science.
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| A rendition of Frank Oppenheimer |
An early idea influencing him was in 1959 when he received a grant from the National Science Foundation to create interactive exhibits for his "Library of Experiments" which formed the basis of what would eventually become the Exploratorium and many of the same exhibits would be included in it.
Frank himself acknowledged that another large inspiration for his Exploratorium came in 1965,while he was conducting bubble chamber research at University College, London. There, he was exposed to many European science museums, which inspired and drove him to create something similar to them in the United States, as there was little like it here.
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| A picture of the inside when it was still located at the Palace. |
Coming back to America, he was asked to help plan for a new section of the Smithsonian, but declined to do so, as he was determined to implement what he called his "San Francisco project". After conducting a kind of back-channel grassroots campaign of visiting various local scientists, businesses, city and school officials, relatives, and even friends, he received the support and funding to bring the project to fruition. With that, and a 50k grant from the San Francisco Foundation, he could then start his project.
Oppenheimer was a passionate patron of the arts and always insisted it has an intrinsic relationship with science, so it is no coincidence that his project was initially located in the Palace of Fine Arts upon opening in late 1969. Partly because of the little funding he had for such a large project (as well as his likely high enthusiasm), the Exploratorium opened with many of it's exhibits still under construction. Oppenheimer viewed it as an opportunity to let the public see the process of it's creation, as it lended to the participatory nature of the museum. Another reason being his insistence that there was no charge to enter the museum for the first 12 years it was open.
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| A pic of the front door of the current location. |
Franks's close friend and physicist George Gamow, died about a year before the opening of the museum, but was quoted on a sign within the museum which reads, "Here Is Being Created the Exploratorium a Community Museum Dedicated to Awareness" and is still displayed in it's current location. Many of the first exhibits were also created with the help of both the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) and the Ames Research Center (NASA) at Moffett Field.
As wikipedia states: Since the museum's founding, over 1,000 participatory exhibits have been created, approximately 600 of which are on the floor at any given time. The exhibit-building workshop space is contained within the museum and is open to view. In addition to the public exhibition space, the Exploratorium has been engaged in the professional development of teachers, science education reform, and the promotion of museums as informal education centers since its founding.
Since it's opening, it has also expanded by having a massive website created for it, as well as assisting with exhibits located outside it walls, and there are even multiple apps you can download for it.
Oppenheimer himself served as the first director of the museum, and was personally involved in nearly all aspects of its daily operations for the rest of his life. He was noted for being on site in person, whether on the public floor of the museum often to answer questions and guide patrons personally, as well as oversee operations daily, right until his death in 1985.
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