Interpreting Science at Museums and Historic Sites

Interpreting Science in Museums and Historic Sites stresses the untapped potential of historical artifacts to inform our understanding of scientific topics. It argues that science gains ground when contextualized in museums and historic sites.

Ask not what science can do for you, but what public history can do for science!

Interpreting Science in Museums and Historic Sites stresses the untapped potential of historical artifacts to inform our understanding of scientific topics. It argues that science gains ground when contextualized in museums and historic sites. Engaging audiences in conversations about hot topics such as health and medical sciences or climate change and responses to it, mediated by a history museum, can emphasize scientific rigor and the time lag between discovery and confirmation of societal benefit. Interpreting Science emphasizes the urgency of this work, provides a toolkit to start and sustain the work, shares case studies that model best practice, and resources useful to facilitate and sustain a science-infused public history.

Contents

Foreword

Jill Tiefenthaler, Chief Executive Officer, National Geographic Society

Preface by Karen-Beth G. Scholthof

Acknowledgments

Part I - Science, the Public Historian and Museum Collections

Introduction

Chapter 1: Communicating Climate Change with Archives of Nature and Archives of

Societies by Sam White

Chapter 2: Creating Public Space for Complex Conversations by Melanie Armstrong

Chapter 3: (Re)constructing the Past: Research and Science Interpretation in Experimental

Archeological Open-Air Museums by Claus Kropp

Chapter 4: Local Weather, Distant Connections: Interpreting Meteorological

Instruments and Data by Roger Turner

Chapter 5: Medical Science Archives: Closer and More Accessible Than They Might

Appear by April White and David D. Vail

Part II - Science and the Human Experience

Introduction

Chapter 6: From Farm to Table: A One-Health Scenario by Karen-Beth G. Scholthof

Chapter 7: Seeing the Museum in the Garden: Using Living History Museums to

Teach the History of Plant Introductions by Emily Pawley

Chapter 8: The Outdoor Life: Seeking the “Cure” in New Mexico by Karen-Beth G.

Scholthof

Chapter 9: “…In the Interest of the Health Conservation of the American Negro”:

National Negro Health Week, 1915-1951 by Cherisse Jones-Branch

Chapter 10: Irrigation History: Moving Water from Colorado Mountain Peaks to

Fruited Plain by Patricia Rettig

Chapter 11: Exporting the “Wonders of Modern Science”: Thinking Scientifically

About Food Aid and Foreign Policy by Kristin Ahlberg

Part III - Science: A Culture of Doubt? A Culture of Questioning

Introduction

Chapter 12: Reflecting on Uncomfortable Science by Aimee Slaughter

Chapter 13: For Our Own Protection: On Black Gay Males and HIV/AIDS Activism by

Jajuan S. Johnson

Chapter 14: Becoming a Scientist: Untangling the Roles of Chemistry Sets

by Debra A. Reid

Chapter 15: The “Gene Gun” and Genetic Engineering: Unpacking the Science by Karen-

Beth G. Scholthof and Debra A. Reid

Chapter 16: Know your analyst, know your food? by Benjamin R. Cohen

Chapter 17: Science and Progress in the Kitchen: Forks, Eggbeaters, and Sporks by

Karen-Beth G. Scholthof and Debra A. Reid

Part IV - Science and History Museum Education

Introduction

Chapter 18: Integrating Art and Science to Effectively Share Knowledge by Bethann

Garramon Merkle

Chapter 19: School Gardens and Edible Education by Debra A. Reid

Chapter 20: A Yearbook of Science for the Public Good by David D. Vail

Chapter 21: Interpreting Scientists: An Interview with Storyteller Brian “Fox” Ellis

Chapter 22: Design, Science, and Driven to Win: A History Museum Addresses the

Innovation Opportunity Gap by Robert Oleary and Matt Anderson

Chapter 23: Exploring Science with Young Naturalists by Debra A. Reid

Conclusion

IDEAS: Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access to Science by Karen-Beth G. Scholthof

Selected Readings

Timeline

Contributors

Index