What goals did early science museums set out to accomplish? And how do those same priorities relate to us today? A new series of articles published by the History of Science Society shows the important role science museums have played in North America and Europe over the past two centuries, and some of the challenges that museums have faced.

Here are some of the historians' key points about science museums:

• Many science museums in the 1800s and early 1900s realized they couldn't simply display miscellaneous oddities of nature or assorted unusual objects (as traveling carnivals might do). A true museum needed to present organized displays and complex scientific principles while still retaining the "Wow" factor that sparks people's interest—often by making use of all five senses.
• Exhibit labels help people understand scientific objects or specimens by explaining how they were discovered in the field or who donated them to a museum collection. Grouping related items together provides added context and meaning. Over time, the same object might appear in several displays, each with a different focus, as trends in science or public interest change.
• Public response to certain exhibits can change as well—as documented by visitor comment books and letters sent to museums. In the past, some people have reacted with hostility (even mob violence) against exhibits about hunted animals, human physiology, or other topics that some groups find unsettling.
• The fact that a science museum exists, and continues to adapt and thrive over time, shows that the surrounding community values scientific research and education—and sees how science is important in daily life. In a way, the museum itself becomes a kind of artifact or monument of science.

Growing out of the Saint Paul Academy of Natural Sciences and becoming the Saint Paul Institute in 1907, the Science Museum of Minnesota has a long history of preserving and displaying artifacts and specimens, and developing innovative exhibits and programs. More information about the museum's history is on display in the section of the Collections Gallery that features the Egyptian mummy, wildlife found near Mount Kilimanjaro, and the anatomical mannequin named TAM.

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