On Wed, 13 Dec 2000 11:42:04 -0800 Nesdon Booth <[log in to unmask]>
writes:
> His definition is not so general as real objects. Read his remarks
> of 12/10, he clearly states that he believes that a true museum's
essential
> role is to preserve historical artifacts for study, and nothing else.
I guess we'll just have to disagree on what David really means.
> Scientific instruments? As in any laboratory? Certainly not. A science
> museum then must be one that collects scientific instruments of
historic
> interest? Hardly.
In my own view (and not necessarily in David's) this is exactly correct.
A science museum would be an institution that would own and care for the
physical objects associated with the doing of science--instruments, lab
gear, natural history specimens, notebooks, field gear, and the like.
> As I read his remarks, there is no such thing as a science museum
except in
> the above sense. I understand that the bias being stated in these
arguments
> is exactly why most science museums are being called science centers,
and I
> am arguing that this is unnecessary.
Once again, we will simply have to disagree. To me a science museum is as
I described it above, and an institution that demonstrates and teaches
science and the scientific method using the appropriated tools and
techniques is either a school or a science center.
> I think the trend for natural history museums to broaden their focus
away
> from reliance on collections and toward a larger mission of presenting
> natural science to the public is a good one.
My guess is that this trend is to be found only in a small number of
large institutions. The majority of natural history museums (in the
United States at least) are housed by colleges and universities, are not
open to the general public, produce no exhibits (OK, they tossed a few
specimens into the wall case by the door), and are staffed by graduate
students who have had no formal museum training. These do not, of course,
fit the generally held definition of 'museum' (to go back to the original
point of this discussion), but they are certainly museums in my view.
Happy trails. David
David Haynes [log in to unmask] San Antonio
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