When people in general consider media, they tend, I think, to imagine the big media of their age. So most people probably think about television, film, and the internet first and then they think about newspapers and magazines as an afterthought, even if they feel a little guilty for leaving out newspapers on their first list.
Yet there is much more that we can consider to be media and that is far from our common thoughts on the subject. For example, on Age of Persuasion this weekend, Terry O'Reilly talked about a sewage treatment plant as a form of media. (I wish I could link to a podcast of that episode, but they don't have the legal issues for a podcast version of that show settled yet.) In the realm of science-related media, I like to point to museums as a medium that my students might otherwise neglect.
In London, there are three museums dedicated to presenting something about science. There is The Canadian Medical Hall of Fame, Banting House National Historic Site, and The Museum of Ontario Archeology. Other museums in London might also have content about science, though. For example, The London Regional Children's Museum offers field trips about at least one scientific topic.
Two of the three primarily scientific museums in London are what we might think of a science-boosters, but not all museums necessarily present science in a good light. This might depend on their historical focus. It is not hard to imagine that there may be a primarily negative impression of scientific research to be found at museums about the Holocaust. Of course, scientific research is an important part of the historical investigation into the Holocaust and it certainly plays a number of (sometimes surprising) roles in defeating the claims of Holocaust deniers. The success of applying scientific methods to reject Holocaust deniers is, unfortunately, harder and less dramatic to communicate in a museum display than it is to communicate the tragedy and horror of the scientific experiments performed on prisoners in the concentration camps and to communicate the science used to create more effective gas chambers.
This brings us to two aspects of the idea of scientific truth as presented in a museum. Much of the study of science in media is about authority. Museums bring with them the force of physical presence to the authority of the claims that they present. Additionally, there is a host of social factors that come with museums; e.g., when one goes to a museum one is aware, consciously or not, of standards of behaviour, expectations of content, expectations of interest or boredom, and certainly that what the museums present is supposed to be an authoritative picture of the way things are (or were).
This idea is explored, fascinatingly, in The Museum Of Jurassic Technology. I recommend that you check out the website for the museum and even visit the museum if you are in southern California. Take a look at the exhibits and try to figure out just what is going on with this museum. If you are interested, check out Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonders, by Lawrence Weschler, a fascinating read on the history of museums and on The Museum of Jurrasic Technology in particular.
Museums are interesting places to consider in a study of scientific media. They have the potential to be a boundary area for traditional means of science education and a new model of interactive science communication. Museums usually rely on the idea that they are there to translate scientific information to their patrons, which is clearly part of the traditional picture of scientific communication. Yet they have the potential to bring in scientists to answer questions about the museum's exhibits. Through websites, or kiosks in museums, patrons can ask questions about particular scientific topics covered in the museums and curators can pass these questions on to scientists working in the field. Additionally, museums can house exhibitions of public science, areas where scientists work on projects chosen by museums patrons and reporting to museum patrons.
Unfortunately, today museums are also a lesson in the role of economics in restricting media. As they face more cutbacks in government support and donations, museums are forced to implement or increase visitor entry fees. This lowers the accessibility and changes the demographic that has access to museums. This, in turn, reinforces the idea that science is for a certain class of people defined by income level.
Yet there is much more that we can consider to be media and that is far from our common thoughts on the subject. For example, on Age of Persuasion this weekend, Terry O'Reilly talked about a sewage treatment plant as a form of media. (I wish I could link to a podcast of that episode, but they don't have the legal issues for a podcast version of that show settled yet.) In the realm of science-related media, I like to point to museums as a medium that my students might otherwise neglect.
In London, there are three museums dedicated to presenting something about science. There is The Canadian Medical Hall of Fame, Banting House National Historic Site, and The Museum of Ontario Archeology. Other museums in London might also have content about science, though. For example, The London Regional Children's Museum offers field trips about at least one scientific topic.
Two of the three primarily scientific museums in London are what we might think of a science-boosters, but not all museums necessarily present science in a good light. This might depend on their historical focus. It is not hard to imagine that there may be a primarily negative impression of scientific research to be found at museums about the Holocaust. Of course, scientific research is an important part of the historical investigation into the Holocaust and it certainly plays a number of (sometimes surprising) roles in defeating the claims of Holocaust deniers. The success of applying scientific methods to reject Holocaust deniers is, unfortunately, harder and less dramatic to communicate in a museum display than it is to communicate the tragedy and horror of the scientific experiments performed on prisoners in the concentration camps and to communicate the science used to create more effective gas chambers.
This brings us to two aspects of the idea of scientific truth as presented in a museum. Much of the study of science in media is about authority. Museums bring with them the force of physical presence to the authority of the claims that they present. Additionally, there is a host of social factors that come with museums; e.g., when one goes to a museum one is aware, consciously or not, of standards of behaviour, expectations of content, expectations of interest or boredom, and certainly that what the museums present is supposed to be an authoritative picture of the way things are (or were).
This idea is explored, fascinatingly, in The Museum Of Jurassic Technology. I recommend that you check out the website for the museum and even visit the museum if you are in southern California. Take a look at the exhibits and try to figure out just what is going on with this museum. If you are interested, check out Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonders, by Lawrence Weschler, a fascinating read on the history of museums and on The Museum of Jurrasic Technology in particular.
Museums are interesting places to consider in a study of scientific media. They have the potential to be a boundary area for traditional means of science education and a new model of interactive science communication. Museums usually rely on the idea that they are there to translate scientific information to their patrons, which is clearly part of the traditional picture of scientific communication. Yet they have the potential to bring in scientists to answer questions about the museum's exhibits. Through websites, or kiosks in museums, patrons can ask questions about particular scientific topics covered in the museums and curators can pass these questions on to scientists working in the field. Additionally, museums can house exhibitions of public science, areas where scientists work on projects chosen by museums patrons and reporting to museum patrons.
Unfortunately, today museums are also a lesson in the role of economics in restricting media. As they face more cutbacks in government support and donations, museums are forced to implement or increase visitor entry fees. This lowers the accessibility and changes the demographic that has access to museums. This, in turn, reinforces the idea that science is for a certain class of people defined by income level.
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