Boston Museum of Science - Definition and Overview

Located on the dam spanning the Charles River between Boston and Cambridge Massachusetts, the Museum of Science is a Boston city landmark. The Museum houses:

• A number of fixed exhibits
• A space for travelling exhibits
• The Charles Hayden planetarium with digital projection equipment as well as a Carl Zeiss star projector
• The Mugar Omni Theater, an Omnimax theatre
• The Thompson Theatre of Electricity holding one of the world's largest Van de Graff generators, capable of producing 2 million volts on a fine, cold New England day.
• Classroom space
• A food court collectively called the Galaxy Cafe which includes:
  • Starlite Deli -- Delicatessen-style sandwiches, plus soup and salads.
  • Boston Grill -- Grilled meats and entrees plus Legal Seafood's clam chowder.
  • Pizza Gusta -- Pizza, pasta, and salads.
  • Galileo's -- Starbuck's coffee plus a variety of desserts and snacks, including Friendly's ice cream.
• The Skyline Restaurant (on the sixth floor of the museum, overlooking the Charles River, Boston, and Cambridge)

The museum is located near the Science Park station on the MBTA's Green Line light rail line and is a stop on the Boston Duck Tours. Parking is also available at the museum. An admission fee is charged, however, admission is free to members of this museum or many other ASTC (Association of Science-Technology Centers) museums.

Detailed layout of the museum

The Museum of Science has three wings, two of which span three levels and one that spans most of the first level. The wings are:

• The Blue (West) Wing including:
  • The Thompson Electrical Theater
  • The newer life-sized T-Rex model
  • The Big Dig display

• The Green (East) Wing, including:
  • New England Habitat
  • The Giant Egg (hatching chicks)
  • Human Body Connection
  • The Science Live! stage

• The Red Wing (on Level 1) which is a mostly no admission fee wing that includes:
  • The food court
  • The museum store
  • The atrium including the Soundstair and Polage, a very large artwork created (and only visible!) using polarized light.
  • The Mugar Omni Theater (separate admission charged)
  • The Charles Hayden Planetarium (separate admission charged for sky and laser shows)

External links

• Boston Museum of Science (http://www.mos.org)
• Boston Duck Tours (http://www.bostonducktours.com/)