Tuesday, July 29, 2008

IF I'M THE BALDWIN 60000, I'M POLISHING MY RESUME AND TALKING TO HEADHUNTERS TODAY: There is no Philadelphia institution with which I have a longer or deeper history than the Franklin Institute Science Museum, from monthly school trips growing up to frequent weekends there with my family to serving on the student advisory committee back when they were developing the Futures Center in the late 1980s to serving as a volunteer floor explainer during college breaks.

And so while I didn't complain when they closed the Fourth Floor (with the Mathematics exhibit and the dot and the line movie), or when they scrapped the whole "Futures Center" concept in place of generic exhibit space, or when they junked the mammoth Hall of Mechanics and the Liquid Air show or got rid of the walkthrough Boeing 707 they had out back (and, okay, no one misses Shipbuilding Along The Delaware), but by gum I'm going to speak out now. Karen Heller reports today that changing the museum's name to "The Franklin" is indicative of even worse things are afoot, as the current Whydah exhibit is indicative of how much science has been removed from the building:
"Pirates" is the latest in the Franklin's succession of tantalizing blockbusters, following "Body Worlds," and shows on the Titanic, Star Wars, and King Tut, the equivalent of a casino floor show, there to draw in folks who might find science sort of yucky. What "Pirates" doesn't teach is science; instead it dumbs down learning to a theme-park level. ... "Sports Challenge" is more Dave and Buster's than lessons in physiology, a homage to hyperactivity where kids run around without ever stopping to learn.

"Sir Isaac's Loft" contains one of those George Rhoads kinetic sculptures found in airports. "Sometimes you just can't avoid science," the caption reads, almost as an apology. "My intention is not to exemplify scientific principles," Rhoads states on the plaque. Oh, great.

Frequently, the Franklin seems as scared of learning as it does of science. Lopping off the "Institute" is an indication. What I watched was kids dashing madly, going from one pit stop to the other, without absorbing much. There was so much insistent fun (!) and no, this-isn't-really-science stuff that the place is transformed into just another consumer palace.
Oh, yeah: there's also a Narnia exhibit. Because that movie was all about scientific fact.

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