Exploratory

The Exploratory is designed to introduce and attract children and adults to Science and Technology, with the primary aims of showing people how things around them work and helping to make the scientific way of approaching questions and problems more central in our culture. It should, thus, be a step towards melting the Snow dividing the Two Culture... s: Art and Science. The Exploratory is not a museum, nor is it a school; though, like museums, it should be a valuable resource for schools. It is intended to be a try-it-yourself Science and Technology Centre where children and adults have the opportunity to discover principles of science and how things work, with 'hands-on' interactive working models, demonstrations and simple experiments. Information, advice and help will be provided by captions (written at various levels) and by specially trained explainers (called 'Pilots') who will also look after the 'Plores' and generally see that the Exploratory is running properly. As the usual museum terms, such as 'exhibit', are too passive for the Exploratory interactive models and hands-on experiments, we have coined the word 'Plore': meaning a model, an experiment, or a problem or whatever to explore. So one explores Plores. Coining some new words appropriate to the aims, should help to reinforce the differences between the Exploratory and a Science Museum. The Exploratory is not a custodian of historically important or valuable objects, which need protection, so we can dispense with glass cases. We are concerned with principles rather than with things. The Plores, many of which will be specially designed in-house, will be the means for conveying principles of science and how these principles are applied in technology. Conceptually The Exploratory will start from the observer, and especially the powers and limitations of human perception. This should do something to redress the 'de-humanising' effect of the mathematical sciences which, since the early Seventeenth Century, have for their own good reasons adopted the ...Read More