Thaindian News

By Maitreyee Boruah
Winterthur (Switzerland), Aug 28 (IANS) If science can be as much fun as you have here, maybe no Indian will have a phobia about it. That’s why Indian officials have contacted the authorities here for setting up a science centre on the lines of Technorama.

Thorsten D. Kunnemann, executive director of the world-famous science centre here, told a visiting IANS correspondent: “Recently we had talks with some senior Indian officials and scientists who are interested in coming up with a science centre on the lines of Technorama.”

“However, since talks have just began, I would not like to reveal much about it,” he added.

With over 500 phenomenal exhibits spread over three floors, Technorama is reputedly the largest science centre in the world. It offers a melange of science, experiment and fun for all age groups.

Learning at Technorama is peppered with fun because you test your grey matter even as you discover whole new worlds.

“The only rule here is ‘hands-on, brains-on’. ‘Hands-on’ and ‘interactive’ are the two essential qualities of the science centre experience. They epitomise the difference between a science centre and a science museum. Participation is invited and expected. The traditional museum ‘Please do not touch’ sign is replaced by ‘Try it’. The underlying message is ‘You are in charge of making it happen’,” explained Kunnemann.

Modelled on Exploratorium, a hands-on museum of science, art, and human perception in San Francisco, Technorama receives a quarter million visitors from around the world in an average year. The age ranges from three to 100.

In the worlds of mechanics, electricity, electromagnetism, mathematics, nature, water, light, spatial imaging, robots and toy trains, the range of experiments is wide and varied.

There is also a special laboratory, where visitors can be scientists for a day or at least for a few hours.

Kunnemann said that idea of Technorama was to make varied branches of science easy and accessible to all.

“Science is part and parcel of life, but due to lack of knowledge the phenomena of science are generally ignored by us. Here at Technorama we explain in an easy and fun-filled manner the scientific phenomena happening daily,” he explained.

“I was dumbstruck to find so many experiments going on at the same time. My child had a field day. He tried his hands on various experiments. It took us almost a day to go around the science centre,” said Amelie Fernandez, who visited Technorama with her four-year-old son Remo from nearby Zurich.

“It was a learning experience for both me and my son,” she smiled.

(Maitreyee Boruah can be contacted at m.boruah@ians.in)