California ScienCenter

In the heart of Exposition Park in Los Angeles lies the California ScienCenter, a free museum with IMAX and paid exhibitions. It is an imposing structure, although with a small problem of being difficult to find coming from public transport, and is equally breathtaking from the inside with a number of good exhibits and a well thought-out plan behind it.

California ScienCenter

The usual praises are sung - good interactives and friendly staff. Where this particular centre excels is in areas such as the local connection; for instance material unearthed from a landfill by an earthquake was put on display and after 15 years you could still read the print on the paper and so forth. This was part of the Ecosystems exhibition, in which there was also fish from the ocean and so on. As part of the extreme climates, a large block of ice demonstrated the different permeabilities of fabrics and in the desert flash floods showed the fickleness of the land.

One excellent interactive are that particularly springs to mind was the island zone, which demonstrated by means of catapults, air pumps and grappling hooks how difficult it was to get to the island by air, sea and carrier. Another one consisted of different sized balls in a perspex box which visitors had to pull up using different 'beaks', showing the adaptations of birds to their prey. Photos are in the album linked above.

In the section on Egypt and the pyramids, the visitor was challenged to put the pieces of pottery (and thence the story) together for themselves, emulating the work done by the real scientists. This was done very well, with good explanation for you when you finished. A pit with bones was displayed - who used it? Was it a party bin or a burial ground outside a butcher's? Poor or rich? Very well done, and very simple.

So here is a centre that's not afraid to get visitors to think and is also free for everyone to look around. This is why I heartily recommend the California ScienCenter to anyone in the LA area - it's well worth a visit.