Museum of Science

About Museum of Science

The Museum of Science is a science museum at Science Park in Boston, Massachusetts. It is not a zoo in the usual sense, but it keeps live animals. Its website describes it as among the world's largest science centers and New England's most attended cultural institution. It states that it engages nearly five million people a year, at Science Park, in museums around the world, in classrooms and online.

The museum's website describes its location as connecting Boston and Cambridge, and Wikipedia states that the main entrance straddles the border between the two cities. The museum's stated mission is to play a leading role in transforming the nation's relationship with science and technology.

The museum's website states that it is an institution accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), and that AZA evaluates the museum every five years to maintain its accreditation.

History

According to Wikipedia, the museum began as the Boston Society of Natural History, which held its first meeting with seven original members on February 9, 1830. It was renamed the Museum of Science in 1939 under director Henry Bradford Washburn Jr. Construction at Science Park began in 1948, and the museum opened there in 1951. Wikipedia states that Science Park station, on what is now the MBTA Green Line, opened in August 1955.

The Charles Hayden Planetarium opened as a permanent building in 1958 and closed for renovation in 2010, according to Wikipedia.

The museum's website describes a gift from Michael Bloomberg, who grew up in Medford, Massachusetts, and visited the museum as a child. The website calls it the largest single gift in the museum's history. It funds an endowment supporting the museum's education division, named the William and Charlotte Bloomberg Science Education Center after his parents, and funds computer science and food science initiatives. The website also states that in 2017 Bloomberg Philanthropies funded the museum's first archives department, which traces the museum's development from the Boston Society of Natural History.

Exhibits and habitats

Wikipedia states that the museum has more than 700 interactive exhibits and more than 100 live animals. Its own pages describe several distinct areas.

Live Animal Care Center. The museum's page states that the center is home to approximately 120 animals representing more than 50 species, which appear in museum exhibits, Live Animal presentations and Traveling Programs. Through a viewing window, visitors may see staff cleaning cages, preparing food, training animals to be handled and assisting veterinarians. The area also offers information about the animals, what they eat and the living environments they need. The page lists the center as free and open to all ages.

Theaters. The museum's theaters page lists three immersive venues. The Omni Theater shows giant-screen films on what the museum calls New England's only IMAX Dome screen, and the page says its films run approximately 50 minutes. The Planetarium runs shows of approximately 45 minutes, and the 4-D Theater runs films of approximately 15 minutes. The Omni and Planetarium shows use a timed ticket, and 4-D admission requires Exhibit Halls admission plus a timed ticket.

Theater of Electricity and live presentations. The museum's about page refers to a lightning show in the Theater of Electricity. Wikipedia states that the theater houses the Round Hill generator, which it describes as the world's largest air-insulated Van de Graaff generator. The museum's Live Presentations page states that educators give daily presentations on topics from quantum physics to the expanding universe, along with drop-in hands-on activities.

Current exhibit halls and traveling exhibits are listed on the museum's website.

Conservation and programs

The museum's Live Animal Care Center page states that introducing visitors to live animals helps explain the value of animals, the impact humans have on their habitats and the struggle of species to survive. It states that live animals contribute to exhibits and programs that encourage observation and inquiry.

The Bloomberg gift is described as supporting a computational thinking and computer science curriculum and food science initiatives, alongside the education division. The museum's website also offers resources for teachers and school field trips, and it lists membership. Reciprocal admission is available through the AZA and the Association of Science-Technology Centers passport programs, according to the museum's FAQ page.

Planning your visit

The museum's address is listed as 1 Science Park, Boston, MA 02114. As listed on the museum's hours page, the Exhibit Halls are open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with the hours extended to 10:00 p.m. (last show) on Friday and Saturday nights. The page lists early closings at 2:00 p.m. on the day before Thanksgiving and on Christmas Eve.

Visitors over the age of 3 need a ticket to enter the Exhibit Halls, and children under 3 are free. The hours page states that timed tickets are no longer required for the Exhibit Halls, and that theater shows are added to Exhibit Halls admission separately. Current prices, discounts and ways to save are on the museum's website.

The directions page states that the museum garage is open on a first-come, first-served basis from 5:00 a.m. to midnight and may fill on weekends and vacation periods. Science Park station, on the D and E branches of the Green Line, is across the street and over the Charles River Dam draw bridge. Blue Bikes bike-sharing is available on the front plaza.

Food is not permitted in the Exhibit Halls. The museum's FAQ says a Riverview Cafe serves food every day, and visitors who bring their own food may eat on the front plaza or at picnic tables behind the museum. Strollers, wheelchairs and scooters are available first-come, first-served, and lockers are available for a fee. Service animals as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act are welcome, and emotional support animals are not permitted.