The Lawrence Hall of Science in Berkeley
I recently had the opportunity to visit the Lawrence Hall of Science in Berkeley, which in my opinion is one of the most under-appreciated scientific museums in the bay area. It’s location in the Berkeley hills makes it relatively unknown to many, however, once there visitors are graced with one of the best views of San Francisco (see below) and a wonderful science facility.
The institution is primarily oriented towards children with numerous interactive exhibits covering a vast spectrum of scientific subjects. While I was there, they has an instillation called “Animal Grossology“, which explored all of the interesting aspects of tape worm, ants, spiders etc.; all the kids that were there were really enjoying the interactive display. In addition, there was a room which housed thousands of Jenga-like blocks called Kapla, from which countless structures could be made, as exemplified below (photograph 13).
For the adults, the museum, again, has magnificent views of the bay and a diverse collection of scientific presentations. Primarily, these included the Science on a Sphere (see below for further details), the outdoor garden, and the fossils and scientific literature on the bottom floor. On that lower floor, there was an immense skull of a Tyrannosaurus and a full Mastodon (pictured above) which were very impressive. In addition, the hall had copies of some of the most significant literature in the history of science, including the critical Mathematical Discourses and Demonstrations Concerning Two New Sciences by Galileo Galilei and Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy by Sir Issac Newton.
While there, I had a long conversation with one of the docents about the Science on a Sphere exhibit, which was recently installed and is one of the two located in California, the other being at the San Jose Tech Museum of Innovation. The sphere provides an excellent means to convey the vast volumes of data, being acquired by Earth scientists, to the public. Displays such as this are critical to communicate the findings of scientific studies in a manner in which the public can comprehend the conclusions, impact and implications of such studies. Below is a very short animation exhibiting the tectonic movement of Earth on the Science on a Sphere.
Science On a Sphere® is a large visualization system that uses computers and video projectors to display animated data onto the outside of a sphere. Said another way, SOS is an animated globe that can show dynamic, animated images of the atmosphere, oceans, and land of a planet. NOAA primarily uses SOS as an education and outreach tool to describe the environmental processes of Earth.
