As The Science Center Of Ideas

As the institution derived from traditional science museums,science centers emerged relatively late in the public eye.Because they differ in many ways from the public’s perception of museums,science centers often attract attention for their unique interactive properties,which inevitably make them controversial.Rather than focusing on ancient collections of artifacts or exhibits viewed through cabinets,or a silent atmosphere,science centers expect visitors to engage extensively in interactive exhibits in which they explore and shape their own scientific processes.However,in many cases,science centers do not achieve their idealized goals,and public awareness of their institutional nature and functional scope is limited.Based on this situation,this paper attempts to investigate the relevant attributes and connotations of science centers through Bradburne’s curatorial practice in museums.Bradburne is a scholar with extensive practical experience in the field of public culture,especially in the field of museums,and he has long been committed to exploring informal learning methods.His broad research horizons and rich experience have led Bradburne to incorporate the results of his practical exploration into the design of the science center’s exhibits,thereby gaining a deeper understanding and knowledge of the science center’s attributes.The transcendent concept and extensive practice make Bradburne a perfect candidate to explore the relevant attributes and connotations of science centers at that time.Based on this,this paper combines Bradburne’s three curatorial practices in different periods and locations to refine and extend the corresponding three attributes.One of them is scientificity,including the reflection on the importance of scientific research and the nature of science.The two exhibitions "Beyond the Naked Eye" and "Body in the Library",which Bradburne co-curated with Drew Ann Wake during his tenure at the Alberta Foundation,show Bradburne’s emphasis on the viewers’ understanding of the nature of science.The science centers must give the audience sufficient power to act in order to enable them to shape their own scientific experience and gain the "science of process".The second is interactivity.Bradburne sees the new Metropolis as a laboratory for informal learning methods,and has revolutionized the overall interactive look of the institution,where Bradburne’s definition of"user language" is fully practiced.The results of the experiment proved that for the science centers to have sustained interaction,it is necessary to build from simple hands-on to full interactive experiences and to sustain this interaction at the content level.The third is sociality.The Vancouver Science Centre’s "Mine Games" exhibition is a result of Bradburne’s consideration of local social issues.Before and after the production of the exhibition,he realized that the science centers should actively respond to social concerns with a scientific background and assume its social responsibility.In addition,the presentation of socially controversial events is an essential part of the current and future development of the science centers,which will allow science to have a more sustainable impact.The contemporary science center is no longer an institution of scientific learning in the traditional sense,but an institution that shapes scientific understanding and the scientific process;it is no longer a scientific institution limited to internal interaction,but a truly social institution that cares for the public,is concerned with society,and is committed to social concerns.As Bradburne has always advocated,interaction should be seen as an attribute of people rather than things,and only then will the institution have longevity,because the needs of people reflect the needs of society,and the needs of society are the needs of the scientific and cultural development of the times.