Praise for the Exploratorium
July 2009

PRAISE IN PRINT
“Best science museum in the world.”
—Dennis Flanagan, Editor Emeritus, Scientific American

“There are two models for great American amusement centers and both can be found in California. Rising from the plains of Anaheim is the original Magic Kingdom, Disneyland. To the north, in a hangar-size building at the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge, is the Exploratorium.”
—Newsweek

“Ten Great Science Museums: In San Francisco, the Exploratorium.”
—Discover magazine

“Exploratorium influences science museums new and old.”
—Physics Today magazine

“Best science museum website.”
—Yahoo! Internet Life

“No one in recent years has had a greater impact upon museums.”
—American Association of Museums Award

#1 on Good Housekeeping’s Top Ten Science Museums List

“Best museum in San Francisco.”
—Family Fun magazine

“Perhaps the best science museum in the world.”
—American Airlines’ American Way

In 2008, Parents magazine named the Exploratorium a Top 10 Museum for Kids (rated #2). And the Exploratorium is not even a kids’ museum!

The Oxford Companion to the History of Modern Science cites the Exploratorium as the seminal model in the worldwide proliferation of science centers over the past few decades.

PRAISE FROM THE COMMUNITY
“We cannot go on in a society like this, having so many people essentially ignorant of science. The primary target must be the young people. The children. But they have to be told about science in the right way and that is where the Exploratorium comes in. What I like to see is the Exploratorium’s impact on these younger people who in many cases are sensing the excitement of science and the discovery of science here for the first time.”
—Dr. Francis Crick, Nobel laureate, co-discoverer of the structure of DNA

“The reason why Silicon Valley has spawned so much creativity is because all these creative folks went to the Exploratorium when they were young…right on the cusp between an ‘art-experience’ and a ’science-experience.’ Such things could perhaps result from genuine and meaningful collaborations between artists and scientists. The only place I can think of that regularly attempts stuff like this — and often succeeds — is The Exploratorium in San Francisco.”
—Brian Eno, renowned artist, musician, cultural thinker

“I would place far greater value on what I could learn from viewing a child at the Exploratorium than from what I could learn by observing a child in a classroom or by knowing his or her IQ.”
—Howard Gardner, noted psychologist, Harvard University; researcher and author

“The Exploratorium is for children like me who refuse to outgrow a sense of wonder.”
—Gordon Getty, composer, businessman, and philanthropist

“The Exploratorium hooks kids on the beauty of science. Intel takes kids and trains them to be world-class innovators in science. It’s a perfect match.”
–Dr. Andy Grove, co-founder, Intel

“I have invested in this place over the years. Why? Because I know its value. The Exploratorium is priceless in the education of our young people. In fact, it’s priceless in the education of just about everybody.”
—William Hewlett, co-founder, Hewlett-Packard Company

“Only San Francisco has the Exploratorium, with its unique way of conveying nature to us all.”
—Barbro and Barnard Osher, civic leaders and philanthropists

“The Exploratorium first fostered my interest in science over 30 years ago. Its power to educate and influence successive generations of inquisitive visitors of all ages and backgrounds has only improved with time. It is a valuable asset to our community.”
—Paul Otellini, Chief Executive Officer, Intel Corporation, and former Exploratorium Explainer

“I have found the Exploratorium, on my many visits there, to be a wonderful and unique experience. The things that are shown excite curiosity and inspire a desire to go further, to seek answers to the questions of the unseen forces involved. Both children and adults respond by learning more about themselves and the world around them through science, art, and nature, all magically brought together under one roof.”
—Mrs. Paul L. Wattis, philanthropist and arts patron

“A wonderful place to be at play in the gravitational fields of the Lord. A great place to reveal your inner physicist.”
—Robin Williams, actor and comedian

“In an era when teaching to standards threatens to take the oxygen out of education, the Exploratorium is a beacon of light.”

–Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, Harvard Professor of Education, MacArthur “genius” award-winner and now chair of the board of the MacArthur Foundation

“The exhibits in the Exploratorium are the result of the creative collaboration between scientists and artists, and they reveal the essential connection between the principles of nature and beauty. The Exploratorium is the best confluence of science, technology, and art, and the coolest place to be, since the Italian Renaissance in 15th century Florence!”
—Bill Viola, artist, and MacArthur Fellow

ON EXPLORATORIUM PARTNERSHIPS
“Few museums could partner with universities in the way that the Exploratorium has done. We urgently need better ways to teach science. This will be one of them.”
—J. Michael Bishop, Nobel Laureate

“This fantastic partnership recognizes the important and novel approaches to science teaching that the Exploratorium staff have developed. The ‘hands-on’ approach removes much of the intimidation factor that many teachers with little science training must face. I am sure that with this new program even more creative approaches will be developed and proven effective.”
—Gordon Moore, Co-Founder, Chairman Emeritus, Intel Corporation, referring to CILS—a collaboration between the Exploratorium, the University of California Santa Cruz, and King’s College London

“Let’s face it. No matter what else happens, we can’t hope to progress without skilled and caring teachers. As other resources shrink, our human knowledge base becomes ever more critical to the healthy growth of society. Science has done so much for our way of life that we sometimes seem to take it for granted. I’m pleased to see this important investment in our future.”
—Arno A. Penzias, Nobel Laureate, Venture Partner, New Enterprise Associates

PRAISE FROM STUDENTS AND EDUCATORS
“Thank you so very much for your insightful presentation on the induction of mathematics and science teachers. Now, it is an integral part of their (the Commission’s) vocabulary in thinking about a new professionalism for math and science teachers.”
– National Commission on Mathematics and Science Teaching for the 21st Century

“This place is an eclectic mixture, hands-on, totally un-slick. And it works just beautifully. As a teacher, I find it just so inviting that I can’t help but get engaged.”
—Tayeko Kaufman, middle school teacher and Exploratorium Teacher Institute alumnus

“Science at school is sometimes boring, but coming here gives me more willingness to understand what’s going on. When you get to come and try to do gravity yourself, it makes it funner. That’s the way I see it.”
—Ceondra Parrot, age 14

“It’s kind of like an amusement park but also a place you learn from. I like to come here on Saturdays with my friends because it’s a new kind of experience for us. It’s educational and more fun than going to the movies.”
—Azizah Hodges, age 13

“I come here with my eight-year-old sister a lot and teach her. I do that because I think the earlier you start, the easier it is. That’s what the Exploratorium, with all its stuff, has done for me. It’s made it easy and fun to learn.”
—Peter Chow, age 13

RECENT INSTITUTIONAL AWARDS

The Exploratorium’s Total Solar Eclipse: Live from China website won the gold award in the “Community” category, and the Ice Stories: Dispatches from Polar Scientists won the silver award in the “Online Presence” category, at the 2009 American Association of Museums’ (AAM) Media and Technology Committee MUSE awards.

On www.dailycognition.com, the Exploratorium was listed as one of the most famous museums of art, science, and history in the world. It was grouped with the Louvre and the Smithsonian.

The 2008 International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge awarded Linda Nye and the Exploratorium Visualization Laboratory first place in the Illustration category for “Zoom Into the Human Bloodstream.” (Sponsored by Science magazine and the National Science Foundation.)

Exploratopia, the Exploratorium’s new hands-on book of experiments, won the 2008 AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books, in the Hands-On category.

Homeschool.com named the Exploratorium’s website one of the “Top 100 Educational Websites for 2008.”

One of America’s 12 best nonprofits — the only museum and only west-coast organization — as described in the book, Forces for Good: The Six Practices of High-Impact Nonprofits. [Jossey-Bass, 2007]

Grand, the official magazine of grandparents, named the Exploratorium one of the top twenty children’s museums in America.

The Exploratorium Science of Gardening Web site was awarded the Muse Gold Award for Interpretation and Education and Science in 2006 at the American Association of Museums conference.

The Student & Youth Travel Association (SYTA) awarded the Exploratorium the Mosaic Award in 2006 for diversity of staff and audience.

In 2005, results of a poll were announced at the 4th Science Center World Congress in Rio, where science center staff from five continents met. Science center directors ranked the Exploratorium the number one science center in the world.

The Exploratorium Science of Music Web site was awarded the Muse Bronze Award in the Educational/Interpretive — Science category in 2005.

The Exploratorium Web site was recently selected by distinguished author James Lerman as one of the best Web sites for teachers on the Internet today. Mr. Lerman went through an exhaustive and rigorous process to select sites for his book 101 Best Web Sites for Secondary Teachers, published by the International Society for Technology in Education.

In 2004, the Exploratorium received its fourth Webby Award for Best Science Site (2004, 1999, 1998, 1997). In 2002, the Web site received the Webby Award for Best Education Site. The Exploratorium also received a Webby nomination for the Science of Hockey site for the Best Sports Site in 1998.

The Exploratorium’s Global Climate Change site received a Pirelli INTERNETional Award in 2003 for environmental publishing. The site also won an Honorable Mention in the database category at the MUSE Awards at the American Association of Museums conference.

The Exploratorium Web site was a finalist in the category of Media Arts and Entertainment for the 1999 Smithsonian Computerworld Award and became part of the Smithsonian’s 1999 Permanent Research Collection. Previous winners include Jacques Cousteau and his Oceanography Museum, the Curie Foundation, and the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton.

STAFF HONORS
In 2008, Exploratorium staff member and multimedia artist Walter Kitundu received a MacArthur Fellowship, popularly known as the “genius” award.

On October 10th, 2007, Dr. Robert Semper, the Exploratorium’s Executive Associate Director, representing the Association of Science-Technology Centers, testified at the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology hearing: Assessment of the National Science Board’s Action Plan for STEM Education.

Dennis Bartels, Executive Director of the Exploratorium was invited by the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to serve on the National Science Foundation Education and Resources Directorate Advisory Committee.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has awarded the distinction of Fellow (Education section) to Rob Semper, Exploratorium Executive Associate Director. AAAS is the worlds largest general scientific society and the publisher of the journal Science.

Charles Carlson, Exploratorium Director of Life Sciences, was named to the National Institutes of Health, National Library of Medicine Long Range Planning Panel.

In 2003, Paul Doherty, Exploratorium Senior Scientist, was awarded NSTA’s Faraday Award for excellence as a science communicator. In 2002, he was awarded the Distinguished Teacher Award by the American Association of Physics Teachers, Northern California Section.

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