• Visit
    • Buy Tickets
    • Calendar
    • After Dark Thursdays
    • Exhibits
    • Artworks on View
    • Getting Here
    • Event Rentals
  • Education
    • Professional Development Programs
    • Tools for Teaching and Learning
    • Learning About Learning
    • Community Programs
    • Educator Newsletter
  • Explore
    • Browse by Subject
    • Activities
    • Video
    • Exhibits
    • Apps
    • Blogs
    • Websites
  • About Us
    • Our Story
    • Partnerships
    • Global Collaborations
    • Explore Our Reach
    • Arts at the Exploratorium
    • Contact Us
  • Join + Support
    • Donate today!
    • Membership
    • Join our donor community
    • Engage your business
    • Attend a fundraiser
    • Explore our reach
    • Thank you to our supporters
    • Host your event
    • Volunteer
  • Store
  • Visit
    • Buy Tickets
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Calendar
      • Today
      • This Week
      • After Dark Thursday Nights
      • Arts
      • Conferences
      • Cinema Arts
      • Free and Community Events
      • Fundraising Events
      • Kids + Families
      • Live Webcasts
      • Members
      • Ongoing + Series
      • Special Hours and Open Mondays
      • Private Event Closures
    • Hours
    • Getting Here
    • Museum Map
    • Reduced Rates & Community Day
    • Accessibility
    • Tips for Visiting with Kids
    • How to Exploratorium
    • Exhibits
    • Tactile Dome
    • Artworks on View
    • Cinema Arts
    • Kanbar Forum
    • Black Box
    • Museum Galleries
      • Bernard and Barbro Osher Gallery 1: Human Phenomena
        • Exhibition: Science of Sharing
          • Educator Activities
        • Tactile Dome
          • 1971 Press Release
        • Black Box
        • Curator Statement
      • Gallery 2: Tinkering
        • Curator Statement
      • Bechtel Gallery 3: Seeing and Listening
        • Curator Statement
      • Gallery 4: Living Systems
        • Curator Statement
      • Gallery 5: Outdoor Exhibits
        • Curator Statement
      • Fisher Bay Observatory Gallery 6: Observing Landscapes
        • Wired Pier Environmental Field Station
        • Curator Statement
      • PlayLists
        • All PlayLists
        • A Different Light
        • “We” or “Just Me”?
        • See Yourself in Cells
        • Greatest Hits: Gallery 2
        • Greatest Hits: Gallery 3
        • Greatest Hits: Gallery 4
        • Museum Map
    • Restaurant & Café
    • School Field Trips
      • Getting Here
        • Bus Routes for Field Trips and Other Groups
      • Prices and Discounts
      • Planning Guide
      • Reservations
        • Field Trip Request Form
      • Resources
    • Groups / Tour Operators
      • Group Visit Request Form
    • Event Rentals
      • COVID-Compliant Options
      • Full Facility & Gallery Bundles
      • Fisher Bay Observatory Gallery & Terrace
      • East Gallery
      • Bechtel Central Gallery
      • Osher West Gallery
      • Kanbar Forum
      • Weddings
      • Proms and School Events
      • Daytime Meeting & Event Options
      • Happy Hour on the Water
      • Rentals FAQ
      • Event Planning Resources
      • Rental Request Form
      • Download Brochure (pdf)
    • Exploratorium Store
    • Contact Us
    • Español
    • 繁體中文
    • 简体中文
    • 한국어
    • Français
    • Deutsch
    • Português
    • 日本語
  • Education
    • Professional Development Programs
      • Teacher Institute
        • About the Teacher Institute
        • Summer Institute for Teachers
        • Teacher Induction Program
        • Leadership Program
        • Teacher Institute Research
        • CA NGSS STEM Conferences
          • NGSS STEM Conference 2020
        • Science Snacks
          • Browse by Subject
          • Special Collections
          • Science Snacks A-Z
          • NGSS Planning Tools
          • Frequently Asked Questions
        • Digital Teaching Boxes
        • Meet the Teacher Institute Staff
        • Resources for Supporting Science Teachers
      • Institute for Inquiry
        • What Is Inquiry?
        • Inquiry-based Science and English Language Development
          • Educators Guide
            • Conceptual Overview
              • Science Talk
              • Science Writing
            • Classroom Video Gallery
              • Magnet Investigation
              • Snail Investigation
            • Teacher Professional Development
            • Project Studies
            • Acknowledgments
          • Conference: Exploring Science and English Language Development
            • Interviews with Participants
            • Plenary Sessions
            • Synthesis, Documentation, and Resources
        • Workshops
          • Participant Portal
          • Fundamentals of Inquiry
            • Summary Schedule
          • BaySci Science Champions Academy
          • Facilitators Guides
          • Commissioned Workshops
        • Resource Library
        • Meet the IFI Staff
      • Resources for California Educators
      • K-12 Science Leader Network
      • Resources for Supporting Science Teachers
      • Field Trip Explainer Program
    • Tools for Teaching and Learning
      • Learning Toolbox
      • Science Snacks
      • Digital Teaching Boxes
      • Science Activities
      • Tinkering Projects
      • Videos
      • Exhibits
      • Publications
      • Apps
      • Educator Newsletter
      • Exploratorium Websites
    • Educator Newsletter
    • Advancing Ideas about Learning
      • Visitor Research and Evaluation
        • What we do
        • Reports & Publications
        • Projects
        • Who we are
      • Center for Informal Learning in Schools
    • Community Programs
      • High School Explainer Program
      • Xtech
      • Community Educational Engagement
      • California Tinkering Afterschool Network
        • About
        • Partners
        • Resources
        • News & Updates
        • Further Reading
  • Explore
    • Browse by Subject
      • Arts
      • Astronomy & Space Sciences
        • Planetary Science
        • Space Exploration
      • Biology
        • Anatomy & Physiology
        • Ecology
        • Evolution
        • Genetics
        • Molecular & Cellular Biology
        • Neuroscience
      • Chemistry
        • Combining Matter
        • Food & Cooking
        • Materials & Matter
        • States of Matter
      • Data
        • Data Collection & Analysis
        • Modeling & Simulations
        • Visualization
      • Earth Science
        • Atmosphere
        • Geology
        • Oceans & Water
      • Engineering & Technology
        • Design & Tinkering
        • Real-World Problems & Solutions
      • Environmental Science
        • Global Systems & Cycles
        • Human Impacts
      • History
      • Mathematics
      • Nature of Science
        • Measurement
        • Science as a Process
        • Size & Scale
        • Time
      • Perception
        • Light, Color & Seeing
        • Listening & Hearing
        • Optical Illusions
        • Scent, Smell & Taste
        • Tactile & Touch
      • Physics
        • Electricity & Magnetism
        • Energy
        • Heat & Temperature
        • Light
        • Mechanics
        • Quantum
        • Sound
        • Waves
      • Social Science
        • Culture
        • Language
        • Psychology
        • Sociology
    • Browse by Content Type
      • Activities
      • Blogs
      • Exhibits
      • Video
      • Websites
      • Apps
        • Total Solar Eclipse
  • About Us
    • Contact Info
    • Our Story
    • Our History
      • 50 Years 1969–2019
    • Fact Sheet
    • Impact Report
    • Awards
    • Arts at the Exploratorium
      • Artworks on View
      • Artist-in-Residence Program
      • Cinema Arts
        • History and Collection
        • Cinema Artists-in-Residence
        • Resources and Collaborating Organizations
        • Kanbar Forum
      • Center for Art & Inquiry
        • Begin Here
          • Lessons
            • Bob Miller/Light Walk
            • Ruth Asawa/Milk Carton Sculpture
          • Workshops
      • Resonance
        • About the Series
        • See & Hear
        • Past Seasons
      • Over the Water
      • Black Box
      • Upcoming Events
      • Temporary Exhibitions
      • Arts Program Staff
      • Arts Committee and Advisers
    • Newsletter
    • Educator Newsletter
    • Press Office
    • Senior Leadership
    • Board of Trustees
    • Board of Trustees Alumni
    • Staff Scientists
    • Staff Artists
    • Partnerships
      • Building Global Connections
        • Global Collaborations
          • Projects
          • Approach
          • People
          • Impact
      • Partnering with Science Agencies
        • NASA
        • NOAA
      • Partnering with Educational Institutions
      • Osher Fellows
    • Exhibit Making
    • Institute for Inquiry
    • Teacher Institute
    • Online Engagement
    • Explainer Programs
    • Studio for Public Spaces
    • Job Opportunities
    • Become a Volunteer
    • Follow & Share
    • FY20 Audit Report
    • 990 FY19 Tax Return
    • Use Policy
      • Privacy Policy
      • Intellectual Property Policy
  • Join + Support
    • Donate today!
    • Membership
      • Membership FAQ
      • Member Benefits
      • After Dark Membership
      • Member Events
      • May Is for Members
    • Join our donor community
    • Engage your business
      • Corporate Membership
      • Luminary Partnerships
    • Attend a fundraiser
      • Wonder Funday
      • Science of Cocktails
      • Party at the Piers
        • Event Leadership and Host Committee
    • Explore our reach
    • Thank you to our supporters
    • Volunteer
      • Benefits
      • How to Apply
      • Application for Corporate Groups
      • Application for Internships
      • Application for Professional Societies
      • Application for School Groups & Clubs
      • Our Contract
      • Application for Individuals
      • Opportunities
  • Press Office
    • Press Releases
    • News Coverage
    • Events Calendar
    • Fact Sheet
    • Photographs
    • Press Video
    • Press Kits
    • Press Visits
    • Exploratorium Logos
    • Recent Awards
    • Praise for the Exploratorium
    • Join Our Press List
  • Store
 

Learn with us online while the Exploratorium is temporarily closed. You can help us reopen—donate today.

Exploratorium
Exploratorium
  • Visit
    • Buy Tickets
    • Calendar
    • After Dark Thursdays
    • Exhibits
    • Artworks on View
    • Getting Here
    • Event Rentals
  • Education
    • Professional Development Programs
    • Tools for Teaching and Learning
    • Learning About Learning
    • Community Programs
    • Educator Newsletter
  • Explore
    • Browse by Subject
    • Activities
    • Video
    • Exhibits
    • Apps
    • Blogs
    • Websites
  • About Us
    • Our Story
    • Partnerships
    • Global Collaborations
    • Explore Our Reach
    • Arts at the Exploratorium
    • Contact Us
  • Join + Support
    • Donate today!
    • Membership
    • Join our donor community
    • Engage your business
    • Attend a fundraiser
    • Explore our reach
    • Thank you to our supporters
    • Host your event
    • Volunteer
  • Store
  • Frank

History

The Exploratorium opened to the public in the fall of 1969. Richard M. Nixon was president, and the Vietnam War and racial tensions continued to divide the nation. Neil Armstrong had just taken humankind’s first walk on the moon, Andy Warhol was creating pop-art images of soup cans, and the hot tub had just been introduced in California. More than 70 million children from the post-war baby boom were becoming teenagers and young adults, and San Francisco had become a nexus for social experimentation. It was the perfect place—and the perfect time—to try out a new way of learning.

Frank Oppenheimer, then 57 years old, had already had three life-shaping careers before coming to San Francisco. A brilliant physicist in his own right, he’d been a university professor and worked beside his brother, J. Robert Oppenheimer (known to some as the “father” of the atomic bomb), on the Manhattan Project of the 1940s. Barred from pursuing scientific research during the McCarthy era of the 1950s, Frank retreated to small-town Colorado and became a cattle rancher. Before long, his passion for knowledge and learning led him back to teaching, and he began to share his view of the world with students at the local high school.

Considering the richness of his own life experiences, Frank was no typical science teacher. He put down the textbook and filled his classroom with the hands-on tools and materials that had become his trademark and that would ultimately lead him to create the Exploratorium. In 1969, Frank’s dream of transforming science education brought him to San Francisco and to the cavernous—and very empty—Palace of Fine Arts, which was once part of the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco’s Marina District.

Frank poured heart and soul into his “San Francisco Project,” working alongside the artists, educators, and developers whose job it was to build and maintain Exploratorium exhibits and help visitors use them. He served as the museum’s director until just before his death in 1985. The Exploratorium grew enormously during the 1980s, continuing the work Frank set in motion. In 1987, Dr. Robert L. White became the Exploratorium’s Director. At the time, Dr. White was Chairman of Stanford University’s Electrical Engineering department. He served as Director until 1990. In 1991, renowned French physicist and educator Dr. Goéry Delacôte joined the Exploratorium and served as Executive Director until 2005. Dr. Delacôte worked toward extending the reach of the museum through networking—increasing outreach, expanding professional-development programs for educators, creating an expanded Web presence, and supporting the formation of museum partnerships in the United States and abroad.

Until 2015, the Exploratorium was led by Dr. Dennis Bartels, a nationally known science-education and policy expert dedicated to strengthening the Exploratorium’s culture of lifelong learning. Under his guidance, the museum began a new phase of growth and exploration, including a move, in April 2013, to a new location on Pier 15 along San Francisco's Embarcadero.

Today, the Exploratorium is led by Chris Flink, who brings more than twenty years' experience spanning creative leadership, engineering, design of hands-on educational experiences, and business. Chris was a partner at IDEO for nineteen years and a founding faculty member of Stanford University's d.school, where he remains a consulting associate professor. 

Today

With a goal of influencing educational policy throughout the country, programs have been designed to make connections between the traditionally separate worlds of formal and informal education: connecting the way science is taught in schools with the way it’s approached in science centers; making rarely-seen scientific research accessible to the public; and providing a venue for scientists and artists to interact directly with live audiences.

Over the past few years, Exploratorium scientists, builders, and educators have pioneered innovative ways to make these connections, working with everyone from researchers at the South Pole and NASA scientists studying the atmosphere of the sun, to playground designers creating immersive experiences for children, to Tibetan monks learning Western science and technology—particularly the Exploratorium’s approach to inquiry-based science and hands-on investigation. While the Exploratorium’s philosophy remains the same, its scope of work has grown enormously over the years.

Exploratorium Directors

Chris Flink
Dr. Dennis Bartels
Dr. Goéry Delacôte
Dr. Robert L. White
Dr. Frank Oppenheimer

About Us

  • Contact Info
  • Our Story
  • Our History
    • 50 Years 1969–2019
  • Fact Sheet
  • Impact Report
  • Awards
  • Arts at the Exploratorium
  • Newsletter
  • Educator Newsletter
  • Press Office
  • Senior Leadership
  • Board of Trustees
  • Board of Trustees Alumni
  • Staff Scientists
  • Staff Artists
  • Partnerships
  • Exhibit Making
  • Institute for Inquiry
  • Teacher Institute
  • Online Engagement
  • Explainer Programs
  • Studio for Public Spaces
  • Job Opportunities
  • Become a Volunteer
  • Follow & Share
  • FY20 Audit Report
  • 990 FY19 Tax Return
  • Use Policy
Exploratorium
Visit
Join
Give

Pier 15
(Embarcadero at Green Street)
San Francisco, CA 94111
(415) 528-4444

Contact Us

  • Plan Your Visit
  • Buy Tickets
  • Hours
  • Getting Here
  • Calendar
  • Tactile Dome
  • Store
  • About Us
  • Become a Member
  • Donate
  • Event Rentals
  • Jobs
  • Volunteer
  • Press Office

Get at-home activities and learning tools delivered straight to your inbox

© 2020 Exploratorium | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Your California Privacy Rights |