Exploratorium

![A medley of videos recorded at the Exploratorium's Microscope Imaging Station.[2]](/uploads/202501/12/-Accessing-the-Microscopic-World-pbio.0030012.sv001.ogv3618.jpg)


The Exploratorium is a public learning laboratory in San Francisco exploring the world through science, art, and human pe****tion. Its mission is to create inquiry-based experiences that transform learning worldwide. It has been described by the New York Times as the most important science museum to have opened since the mid-20th century, an achievement attributed to "the nature of its exhibits, its wide-ranging influence and its sophisticated teacher training program". Characterized as "a mad scientist's penny arcade, a scientific funhouse, and an experimental laboratory all rolled into one", the participatory nature of its exhibits and its self-identification as a center for informal learning has led to it being cited as the prototype for participatory museums around the world.