Chicago has some world class museums, and the Museum of Science and Industry is a good example for that. After my visit to the University of Chicago campus near Hyde Park area, I took a stroll towards the east to visit the museum.
One of the first remarkable features of this museum, inside content aside, is that it’s hosted in a gorgeous building built for the 1893 Expo to serve as the Palace of Fine Arts. And it’s a gigantic building which I’m sure most people would regard as very esthetically pleasing architecture.
(entrance to the museum and the view overlooking Hyde Park area)
The museum is – without doubt – best visited with kids. Everything about how things are structured in this museum is aimed towards the young ones and their accompanying parents. It’s all very high-tech, extremely interactive, and quite flashy and bombastic. A treat.
So, what do we have?
(I think I had one of this when I was a kid. If not, I certainly wanted one.)
(A game that tracks "mind waves" where two compete for who is able to relax more. Of the few competitions I stayed and watches, men were always far more calm than women. There’s a research paper for you…)
(firing things up…)
(Imitating hamsters…)
(shadowing…)
(demonstrating famous effects…)
(playing with wind… )
(and water…)
Aside from all the interactive fun, there are quite a few exhibits to see…
The next two are a real captured German submarine from second world war and dancing robot with screens. Cool, isn’t it?
Not sure what exactly this was doing in this museum, but perhaps it’s related to the "industry" part of the museum title… I adore miniatures.
The interior, as you can expect, is fantastically designed.
And since it’s a large complex, what better way to guide your visitors around than with a Segway?
I stayed in for about 2-3 hours, but if you got kids and/or you’re visiting the special exhibitions they have (like Mythbusters) you can definitely spend a whole day there playing around with science.
Fun stuff.
Wow! Really Cool!