• Adler Planetarium Chicago, Illinois
• Alf Museum The Webb Schools, Claremont, CA
  What began nearly 70 years ago as a small collection of fossils housed in a school library basement by Webb biology teacher, Dr. Raymond M. Alf, has grown into a nationally respected, fully accredited institution. Dr. Alf's "hobby" has resulted in a remarkable collection of over 70,000 fossils, 95% of which were collected by Webb students, teachers and alumni.
  The museum is home to the world's largest collection of fossilized footprints, spanning every geological era and includes several mounted dinosaur skeletons. The museum offers Webb students the opportunity to learn about paleontology, geology and museum studies through hands-on research.
• Amazon City Museum of Women in Science & Technology
• American Museum of Natural History New York, NY
• American Museum of Radio Bellingham, Washington
  Artifacts demonstrate the relationship between early investigations into the phenomenon of electricity and the subsequent development of radio.
• American Museum of Science and Energy Oak Ridge, TN
• Ann Arbor Hands-On MuseumAnn Arbor, MI
  "It's great--lots of neat things to do," an Internet correspondent reports.
• Audubon Institute: Living Science Museum, New Orleans, LA
• The Bakken, A Library and Museum of Electricity in Life, Minneapolis, MN
• Bay Area Discovery Museum Sausalito, CA
• Bloomfield Science Museum Jerusalem, Israel
• The Bradbury Science Museum Los Alamos, NM
• Buffalo Museum of Science Buffalo, NY
  What a great name for a science site!
• California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco
• California Science Center Los Angeles, CA
• California State Railroad Museum Sacramento, CA
• Cambridge Museum of Science and Technology Cambridge, England
• Canada's National Museum of Science and Technology Ottawa, CANADA
• Carnegie Museum of Natural Science Pittsburgh, PA
• Carter House Natural Science Museum Redding, California
• The Children's Museum, Indianapolis, IN
• The Children's Museum Spokane, WA
  A reader comments:
  We live in Spokane and while this one is small it is still fun :)
• The Children's Museum of Houston Houston, TX
• The Children's Museum of Indianapolis Indianapolis, IN
  My children both loved this museum when they were younger. It had/has a wonderful mini-museum for the youngest kids, where they can play with a big, multi-level water table, play at a sand table, do rubbings, climb on structures, build, etc. It also has a carousel that they loved. They typically have several rotating large exhibits, too.
  The main exhibits included a physics section, a cave, an animal exhibit, a history exhibit, and a dinosaur exhibit.
  We were members of the museum for a couple of years, even though we lived 2 1/2 hours away. -- Laura
• Children's Science and Technology Museum of Terre Haute Terre Haute, Indiana
• Chino Air Museum Chino, California
• Cité des Sciences Paris, France
• Conner Prairie, Fishers, IN
  Journey into the past at one of the nation’s exciting outdoor history museums! Pitch in with fun farm chores, meet the animals and play 19th-century games as you experience our lively historic areas.
• COSI Toledo, OH & Columbus, OH a trip there, just to see it. We went at 10 am, and still weren't ready to leave when they closed at 5 pm!
• Coyote Point Museum San Mateo, CA Trip Report
• The Cyberspace Museum
• Denver Museum of Nature & Science Denver, Colorado
  They have IMAX, the planetarium, a Denver through time exhibit where a lot of their considerable dinosaur collection is housed, a large hands on area about the human body where you take a card and try various activities to rate your fitness level- a favorite with kids. They also have mummies, insects, rocks and all the usual science museum items. It is quite a large museum and one cannot hope to cover it in one day. --Lisa in Colorado
• The Discovery Museums Acton, Massachusetts
• Earth Sciences Museum University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
• Edgerton Center Aurora, Nebraska
• Electronic Calculator History and Technology E-Museum
• ESPAÇODATA Brasilia, DF - Brazil
• Exploration Place Witchita, Kansas
  On our way home from Denver, we stopped in Witchita to visit friends for a day and fell in LOVE with Exploration Place! My girls enjoyed walking through a tornado, seeing the weather report broadcast live and flying flight simulators to name a few highlights. Of course the castle was a HUGE hit too! -- Nancy, Houston TX
• The Exploratorium San Francisco, CA
  Possibly the world's best science museum
• Fairbanks Museum & Planetarium St. Johnsbury, Vermont
  A reader writes: This is the home of the "Eye on the Sky" weather forecasters familiar to folks in this part of the world (VT/NH, NE NY state, southern Quebec). One of our favorite permanent exhibits there is the bug art :-)
• Fernbank Science Center Atlanta, Georgia
• The Field Museum Chicago, IL
• Forestry and Wood Technology Museum Zvolen, Slovakia
• The Franklin Institute Philadelphia, PA
  A remarkably boring Web site for a fairly interesting museum...
• Genetic Science Learning Center University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
• German Museum of Technology Berlin, Germany
• Goudreau Museum of Mathematics in Art and Science New Hyde Park, New York
• Great Lakes Science Center Cleveland, Ohio
• The Harvard Museum of Natural History
  This is where the famous glass flowers are exhibited, down to every last botanical detail. This is an old, almost antiquated museum with lots of stuffed animals.
• Heard Natural Science Museum and Wildlife Santuary McKinney, TX
• Hennepin History Museum, Minneapolis, MN
• Hiller Airplane Museum San Carlos, CA
• Houston Museum of Natural Science Houston,TX
• IEEE Virtual Museum
• Imaginarium Science Museum Nevada City, CA
• Imagination Station Wilson, NC
• The James Lovell Discovery World Museum Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• Joe Azzato's On-Line Technology Museum
• Kennedy Space Center Visitor Center
• Kennedy Space Center (NASA)
• Kirkpatrick Science and Air Museum (Omniplex) Oklahoma City, OK
• Kobe Science Museum Kobe, Japan in Japanese
• Lawrence Hall of Science, Berkeley, California
  Smaller than but similar in feel to the Exploratorium, and less grubby. Enthusiastic volunteers continually put on different hats, kind of like the Wizard of Oz.
• Liberty Science Center NY Times, August 29, 2005 "Its touch tunnel is worn, its six-story Imax Theater dome needs a good scrubbing, and even the hissing cockroaches from Madagascar need a rest. After 12 years, nearly nine million visitors and countless oohs and ahs, the Liberty Science Center here will close on Labor Day for a two-year, $104 million renovation.
  ...
  The giant vinegaroon, which is nonpoisonous, will be joining its neighbors - the poisonous-dart frogs, the frilled lizard and the inland bearded dragon - at the center's temporary home, scheduled to open Nov. 25, a mile away at the Central Rail Terminal in Liberty State Park, on the Hudson River.
  ...
  Named the Liberty Science Center: Riverside, the 4,000-square-foot space will focus on predator-prey relationships with a new exhibit called "Eat and Be Eaten." The riverside location will also have a smaller movie theater in place of the Imax.
  ... "
  A hop and a skip from the Statue of Liberty. A small museum, great when there are no school groups there. It gets loud. -- Barb (Avon,MA)
• The Mammoth Site Hot Springs, SD
  We loved this one. -- Barb (Avon,MA)
• McWane Center Birmingham, AL
• Miami Museum of Science Miami, Florida
• Mid-America Science Museum Hot Springs National Park, AR
• Mill City Museum Minneapolis, MN
  Mill City Museum chronicles the flour milling industry that dominated world flour production for roughly a half-century and fueled the growth of Minneapolis, recognized across the nation and around the world as Mill City.
  Built within the ruins of a National Historic Landmark — the Washburn A Mill — the museum provides a multi-sensory, interactive journey. The story of flour milling — and its impact on Minneapolis, the nation and the world — comes to life through the eight-story Flour Tower and other hands-on exhibits.
  Mill City Museum is the latest addition to the Minnesota Historical Society’s network of museums and historic sites.
• Milton J. Rubenstein Museum of Science and Technology Syracuse, NY
• MIT Museum Cambridge, Massachusetts
  Small, ... but packed with history.
• Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum Provo, Utah
• Montshire Museum of Science Norwich, Vermont
• Musee Mecanique"San Francisco's Musee Mecanique, a hidden treasure from the past ... is one of the world's greatest collections of coin-operated entertainment machines -- player pianos, fortune-telling machines, tiny figures that dance, baseball games, hockey games, race car games, machines that issue peals of maniacal laughter, machines that whirr and click and play tunes on a snare drum, a mandolin and a piano, machines that give you secret peeks into the hidden life of belly dancers.
  There are more than 150 of these devices -- the great-grandparents of all the video games in all the malls of the world. ..."
  Pier 45 at the end of Taylor Street Fisherman's Wharf
  San Francisco, CA 94133 Tel: (415) 346-2000
  There were notices that this museum was going to close, but it seems only to have moved."
• Museum of Coathangers
  OK, so coathangers are not the most high-tech invention, but, admit it, they are a very useful technology.
• Museum of Animal Perspectives Online.
• Museum of Discovery & Science Ft. Lauderdale, FL
• Museum of Geology at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology Rapid City, SD
• Museum of Health & Medical Science Houston, TX
• Museum of Industrial Technology Saitama-ken, JAPAN
• Museum of Jurassic Technology Culver City (Los Angeles), CA
• Museum of Life and Science Durham, NC
• Museum of Paleontology Berkeley, CA
• Museum of Radio and Technology Huntington, West Virginia
• Museum of Science and History Jacksonville, FL
• The Museum of Science & Industry Manchester, U.K.
• Museum of Science and Industry Chicago, Illinois
• Museum of Science Boston, Massachusetts
• Museums of Natural History University of Copenhagen, Denmark
• Museum of the History of Science Oxford, U.K.
• Museum of the Rockies Montana State University campus in Bozeman, Montana
  Excellent, small museum with a homestead out back from the 1800's, I think.
• Museum of Unworkable Devices
• National Institute of Standards and Technology Virtual Museum
• The National Museum of National History -- Smithsonian Institution Washington, DC
• National Museum of Natural Science Taiwan
• National Museum of Science and Technology Ottawa, Canada
• National Museum of Science and Technology "Leonardo da Vinci" Milan, Italy
• National Science and Technology Museum Kaohsiung, Taiwan
• Rakia -- National Science, Planning and Technology Museum Haifa, Israel
• NativeTech: Native American Technology and Art
• The Natural History Museum (Naturhistorische Museum der Burgergemeinde Berne) Berne, Switzerland
• The Natural History Museum London, England
• Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County 900 Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90007 (213) 763-DINO
  An amazing rock and gem collection, enthusiastic, knowledgeable and amusing tour guides, a live butterfly exhibit April through Sept., and starting Oct. 2005, SPIDERS!
• The Natural World Museum (NWM) Natural World Museum
  Our upcoming exhibitions will be taking place at these three venues:
  1. Festival Pavilion, Fort Mason Center, SF
  2. 111 Minna Gallery in San Francisco
  3. Oakland International Airport
• The Naval Armament and Technology Museum Ridgecrest, CA
• National Center for Atmospheric Research
  The NCAR museum in Boulder has hands-on exhibits that help explain weather as well as a short hiking trail with placards explaining some of the weather patterns you are likely to see in the sky around Boulder. It is a small musuem with a specific focus, but they also do tours of the NCAR research facility and the natural beauty of the place will take me up there even when I'm not going inside. -- Lisa in Colorado
• New Mexico Museum of National History and Science Albuquerque, New Mexico
• Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology Oslo, Norway
• North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences Raleigh, NC
• Northern Maine Museum of Science
  Northern Maine Museum of Science is located at Folsom Hall at The University of Maine at Presque Isle on south Main Street
  This is cool: "This museum is entirely the product of voluntary contributions of work and money. Anybody interested in working on a museum display should contact Dr. McCartney. The museum is always in need of people, especially those with artistic talents."
• The Nylander Museum Northern Maine's natural history museum
• Ocean Science Teacher Resource Center
• Odyssey Expeditions Tropical Marine Biology Voyages
• Omuta Coal Industry and Science Museum Fukuoka, Japan
• Ontario Science Center
  ... [O]ne of our favorites. It is a very large science museum with something for everyone. One of my kids' favorites every time is a large Rube Goldberg-esque machine where the kids drop in balls in various places, and they run through an amazing array of tracks, jumps, lifts, etc. There are lots of hands-on activities, many geared toward toddlers/preschoolers as well. --Robyn
• OMSI- Oregon Museum of Science and Industry Portland
• Osaka Science Museum Osaka, Japan in Japanese
• Pacific Science Center Seattle, WA
• Paddy Technology Museum
• Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits Los Angeles, CA
  There are no dinosaurs here, no fossils either (the tar preserves the bones, it doesn't fossilize it) but any budding paleontologist should visit anyway.
• Pavek Museum of Broadcasting, St. Louis Park, Minnesota, houses one of the world's finest collections of antique radio, television, and broadcast equipment. The Pavek has gained international recognition for its continuing efforts in preserving and documenting the history of an industry that has made monumental changes in the fabric of modern life.
• Petaluma Wildlife and Natural Science Museum Petaluma, CA
  From what I can tell, this museum is run by the students of Petaluma High School.
• Questacon, The National Science and Technology Centre Canberra, Australia
• Redpath Museum Montreal, Quebec
  The Redpath Museum is a unique interdisciplinary unit within the Faculty of Science. It houses and displays large collections of ancient and modern organisms, minerals, and ethnological artefacts. At McGill University, it is the centre for teaching and research on the history and diversity of life.
• REME Museum of Technology Arborfield, near Reading, Berkshire, UK
• Roberson Museum and Science Center Binghamton, New York
• Royal Institute
  Since the Royal Institution was established over 200 years ago, ... [s]ome of the most influential and seminal scientific discoveries such as sodium, the electric generator and the atomic structure of crystals were discovered here. ... During these 200 years, the Ri has continued to communicate scientific issues to the general public through its high calibre events that break down the barriers between science and society. It acts as a unique forum for informing people about how science affects their daily lives, and prides itself on its reputation for engaging the public in scientific debate.
• Science and Cosmos Museum TENERIFE, Canary Islands
• Science and Technology Museum Kerala, India
• Science and Technology Museum Pretoria, South Africa
• Science City Kansas City, MO
• The Science Museum London
• The Science Museum, London Virtual Library
• Science Museum & Planetarium West Palm Beach, FL
• Science Museum of Long Island Plandome, New York
• Science Museum of Minnesota St. Paul, MN
• Science Museum of Virginia
• Science World British Columbia, Canada
• SciTech Interactive Science Center Aurora, Illinois
• SciTrek Atlanta, Georgia
• Sendai Science Museum Sendai, Japan
• Senckenberg Natural History Museum Frankfurt am Main, Germany
• SJSU Virtual Museum
• Smithsonian Encyclopedia Washington, DC
• South Florida Science Museum West Palm Beach, Florida
• Spark Museum Virtual Museum of Scientific Apparatus
• The St. Louis Science Center
• The Steno Museum University of Aarhus, Denmark
• The Tech Museum of Innovation San Jose, CA
• Technology and Science Museum of Austin Austin, TX
• Technology Museum of Thessaloniki Thessaloniki, Greece
• Technology Museum Magdeburg Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany
• Technopolis
  The only nice science museum in Belgium --Luc
• Technorama Winterthur, Switzerland
  The 'best' science museum ...
  I have been in several science museums in the last two years, Boston, Paris, Vienna .. but this summer I went to the Technorama in Winterthur, Switzerland. This museum has 500 science experiments. All recently build, all working. Excellent explanations, short and well formulated. Winterthur is just outside Zurich Switzerland.
  --Wolfgang
• Thames Science Center Newport, RI
• Theater of Electricity Museum of Science, Boston
• Thornbridge Technology Museum
• U.S. Space and Rocket Center Huntsville, AL
• University of Alaska Museum of the North University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) campus
  This is the University of Alaska's Museum of the North and it contains an overlapping collection of cultural and natural history items, all tied into the history and development of Alaska. The museum has been newly renovated and enlarged, but I haven't been to visit it yet since it was re-opened. I found the old museum fascinating and I liked the layout, with the various distinct cultures of Alaska in distinct sections. It is not a huge museum, but I find it an interesting one.
  --Laura
• University of Colorado Museum
  With more than four million artifacts and specimens, the CU Museum houses one of the most extensive and respected natural history collections in the Rocky Mountain and Plains regions, making it one of the top university natural science museums in the country.
• The Whitaker Center 222 Market Street, Harrisburg, PA 17101
  The mission of Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts is to serve as the center for scientific, artistic, cultural and educational activities to enhance the region's quality of life and economic vitality.
• The Witte Museum San Antonio, TX
  We liked this museum.It needs to develop its science a bit more, but worth the visit. -- Barb (Avon,MA)
• World Wildlife Federation

  Other lists of science museums

• Instrument and Sensing Technology Museum Guide
  An interesting annotated list.
• Another list of science museums...
• Yahoo's list
• The Lost Museum of Sciences
  An amazing, comprehensive, organized list
• Israeli Museums
• Tools, Toasters and Toilets: A Visit to the Online Technology Museum

Stuff that helps us do science

Other trip reports on this site