Life and Thought Development of Frank Oppenheimer : Backgrounds of the Establishment of The Exploratorium

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  • SEMBA Ai
    Fusakami Elementary School, Shimotsuma, Ibaraki
  • OGAWA Masakata
    Research Institute for Higher Education, Hiroshima University

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  • フランク・オッペンハイマーの生涯とその思想形成 : エクスプロラトリアム設立の背景に関する一考察
  • フランク オッペンハイマー ノ ショウガイ ト ソノ シソウ ケイセイ エクスプロラトリアム セツリツ ノ ハイケイ ニ カンスル イチ コウサツ

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Abstract

The exhibitions of the Exploratorium, founded in 1969 by the physicist Frank Oppenheimer, are believed to be one of the origins of "hands-on exhibitions" in science museums. The mission statement of the Exploratorium, "the museum of science, art and human perception" indicates clearly that their goal is not to exhibit what science really is. The purpose of this research is to examine the relationship between Oppenheimer's thought development and the crystallization of his idea of a new type of museum, Exploratorium, through deciphering various kinds of documents on his life and thought. The findings are as follows : (1) his insistence on art and sensibility comes from the fact that his mother was a professional painter, his family loved arts, and he was strongly committed to music, (2) his view of science was formed through the experience of "playing with haywire things" and the influence of his brother in childhood, his experience as a physicist, the commitment of ESS and PSSC, and teaching experience in high schools and university, (3) his view of a museum was formed through the experiences of ESS and PSSC activities, and development of his "Library of Experiments" at Colorado University.

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