Tribute to the Museum of Science

Image of Museum of Science from the Charles River.
Museum of Science, Boston from the Charles River.

The Museum of Science (MoS) is a science museum and indoor zoo in Boston, Massachusetts, located in Science Park, a plot of land spanning the Charles River. Along with over 700 interactive exhibits, the museum features a number of live presentations throughout the building every day, along with shows at the Charles Hayden Planetarium and the Mugar Omni Theater, the only domed IMAX screen in New England. The museum is also an accredited member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and is home to over 100 animals, many of which have been rescued and rehabilitated from various dangerous situations.

Exhibit halls

Blue Wing

  • Butterfly Garden: a walk-through greenhouse containing exotic butterflies with an area dedicated to botanical education
  • Seeing is Deceiving: a collection of optical illusions, including many motorized illusions
  • Making Models: exhibit on the use of physical and abstract models to understand the real world
  • Mathematica: A World of Numbers... and Beyond: a roomful of classic mathematical exhibits by designers Charles and Ray Eames
  • Natural Mysteries: an investigative exhibit on classification of mysterious objects and natural history specimens
  • Theater of Electricity: features the world's largest air-insulated Van de Graaff generator, designed by Professor Robert J. Van de Graaff and donated by MIT in 1956. Demonstrations of "artificial lightning bolts", Tesla coils, and other electrical apparatus
  • Clark Collection of Mechanical Movements: over 100 working models of mechanical motions and linkages
  • Innovative Engineers: exhibits and brief biographies of Boston engineers, including minorities and women
  • Investigate!: a house-sized collection of rooms to explore using scientific thinking
  • Energize!: exhibits of renewable energy technologies
  • Nanotech
  • Mapping
  • Take a Closer Look
  • Modeling the Mesozoic
  • Machines & Transportation
  • Living on the Edge
  • T. Rex
  • To the Moon
  • Behind the Scenes
  • Wicked Smart: Invented in the Hub

Green Wing

  • New England Habitats
  • A Bird's World
  • Colby Room: a classic explorer's trophy room filled with stuffed animal heads from big-game hunting, preserved as a historical exhibit and also used for meetings
  • Hall of Human Life: an exhibit of interactive activities focusing on human biology
  • Mirror Maze (coming soon): an introduction to the math and science behind reflections

Red Wing

  • Mugar Omni Theater: largest Omnimax movie theater in New England
  • Charles Hayden Planetarium
  • Cosmic Light
  • Discovery Center: offers the opportunity to talk with scientists and participate in experiments
  • Foucault pendulum: shows the effect of the rotation of the earth
  • Museum Store
  • Polage: a wall-sized polarized light collage of shapes by artist Austine Wood Comarow
  • Soundstair: a stairway fitted by artist Christopher Janney with photoelectric cells which trigger musical sounds
  • Archimedean Excogitation: a large rolling ball sculpture by George Rhoads
  • Simulator ride

Miscellaneous

  • Yawkey Gallery on the Charles River: an open area filled with information about the Charles River and river science in general
  • Rocks form Around the World