The Exploratorium is the most engaging science museum that
I've seen so far. Their philosophy is to teach science through hands-on
participation and that's what makes it interesting. You'll have to push
buttons, rotate wheels or perform a wide variety of other actions to set the
experiments in motion. Each experiment has instructions and explanations
nearby so you can understand what it is you're setting in motion. We spent 3
hours there and only got through half of the museum before the closing hours
(well, we are geeks so maybe we were enjoying it more than other people). It
is incredibly fun. Exhibits are located on the main floor and mezzanine level
being divided into 13 subjects areas Electricity, Motion, Weather, Vision,
Light, Color and Sound. The Exploratorium was established in 1969 by physicist
Frank Oppenheimer who was the one that embraced the philosophy that it's best
teach science through hands-on participation. The museum was full of kids, so
if you travel with kids this is one of the places in San Francisco that would
be nice to visit. The top attraction of the museum is the Tactile Dome, a
totally dark sphere in which you crawl your way along, touching sensorially
stimulating objects and textures (not for claustrophobes). You'll need
reservations for the Tactile Dome.
