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Exploratorium at the Palace of Fine Arts • Marina Blvd. @ Lyon Street in San Francisco
Open Tuesday–Sunday 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Easily accessible free parking
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My memories of Frank Oppenheimer go back to 1967 when I was taking “Physics 101″ at the University of Colorado. Dr. Oppenheimer had just reorganized the laboratory section of the course. The laboratory was set up with a number of different modules containing experiments that illustrated various topics (optics; electricity and magnetism; the laws of motion; etc.). The class was divided into teams of four or five students and each team got to select the five modules they wanted to work on during the term. At the end of the term brand new modules were set up for the following term.
One day our team was working on an experiment in the laws of motion module. We were studying how the motion of little carts on tracks could be dampened by securing weights of various sizes to the carts. Well, our weights wouldn’t stay put and kept slipping. The team was bummed out that the experiment wasn’t working right. Dr. Oppenheimer, on the other hand, was delighted. What a wonderful, unexpected opportunity to study the effect of slipping weights on the outcome of the experiment!
Several years later, when I worked at the Presidio, I saw Dr. Oppenheimer in a cafe on Lombard Street. He was having lunch with a crew from the Exploratorium. I went over and introduced myself and told him about that incident, and how when I visited the Exploratorium for the first time, I thought to myself “I have seen this before.” I think he liked that.
I had the rare treat of working in the Exploratorium shop for a couple of months back in 1978, prepping the installation of the stained-glass windows for the circular classroom. I remember how Dr. Oppenheimer sat around with his employees on Friday afternoons, sharing a couple of boxes of pizza, and discussing new ideas for exhibits. The Exploratorium has always been a giant toy factory, in a way, making science fun, and it all started with him.
My first visit to exploratorium was in the year 2005 with my family. My children really enjoyed every moment and cherish the same. We are fascinated by the things done there and i must admit that its an exemplar for others to get inspired…. Hats off to you.
I’m 40 this year as well, and I grew up going to the exploratorium in the ’70’s. I most remember the cows eye, the laser (which was new at the time), the boot wheel, and the photo chamber which recorded your shadow in 20 second or so increments. Some of my fondest memories of my childhood involved days at the exploratorium. I’m so glad its still around! Congratulations!
In High School the first time I visited the Exploratorium with Frank Oppenheimer greeting kids and teens at the door giving us parts of things like magnets, wires,…. and telling us to build things. Exploratorium is DIY was before DIY! Happy BDay!
I visited the Exploratorium while on a trip to SF in 2002 already in my 20s, and found it a fascinating place. It inspired me to apply for a job at a local science centre when I returned home where I worked for three yours.
My first visit was in 1987. Seven hours later… school physics had made sense, and I’d really GOT the hands-on bug. The Exploratorium — and my first ASTC conference that same year — planted the seeds for Ecsite in Europe. Favourites? The tornado, of course; the bouncy Pilots; the eugh, yuck, wow dissection; and (at a later visit) the pretzel cart, to provide energy for the next 200 sqm. Happy Birthday!
I visited in 2000 while backpacking around the US – in particular I remember the sand tornado simulator and the optical illusion on the tiles of the toilet walls
The Exploratorium was just one of the many reasons I fell in love with SF, found a job and planned to emigrate.
My first visit to Eploratorium was in 1989 when you were preparing for your 20th anniversary. The inspiration and excitement prevails! Now our science center also has celebrated our 20 first years. From probe Teknikens Hus up north in Sweden to Mothership: Thanks Exploratorium for decades of inspiration and good luck in the years to come!
Back in 1969, myself and my friends spent a lot of time stoned. One of our favorite activities was to play “cops and robbers” in some of San Francisco’s great spaces like the Legion of Honor and the Palace of Fine Arts. One day when we were playing at the Palace, a side door was open so we walked in. We spent the rest of the day playing with the few exhibits that were there. (In some ways, I’ve never left.)
The interactive magazine cover is (like all things Exploratorium) innovative and wow! There’s nothing like the bright spark of excitement I see on my kids’ faces when we visit the Exploratorium … watching synapses firing before my eyes … and my daughter and I just got that same “Show me more! How did they do that? Can we do that?” experience in our living room. Thanks for the fabulous at-home Exploratorium moment!!
I found a picture of me visiting the Exploratorium when I was 5 or 6. I was wearing a hoodie, and standing under the giant dome of the Palace of Fine Arts, looking excited and quizzical. And here I am today, a handful of decades later, still wearing a hoodie, still looking relatively excited and quizzical. Still love the parabolic slot. That thing bends space-time or something.
My strongest memory of the Exploratorium was of a video game, strangely enough. I was visiting with my family for the umpteenth time, and just beyond the sound tree was a line of kids waiting — and this just blew my mind — to play a game on a TV set! Using two dials a pair of kids would control these white boxes on the screen, while a smaller white box bounced back and forth between them. Again — and the magnitude of this is hard to conceive of in our digital age — you could control what was happening on the screen! The game was Pong, of course, and the rest is history. Thanks, Exploratorium, for showing me that a TV could be a two-way device.
The exploratorium was a really great place to explore as a kid. I still find it an exciting place where the ways I perceive, now shaped by decades of experiences, are still challenged. Visiting the exploratorium is kind of like getting lost–in a good way.