Infuriatingly for some, many members of the public don't want to have their relaxation interrupted by tutorials on scientific principles. That's why nobody expects the media to devote much space or airtime to lectures about genes, electromagnetic radiation or the immune system, all of which are relevant to contentious areas of technology. And all of us — especially if accompanied by children — know the sensation after an hour spent in a museum that the series of displays and explanations is falling into an increasingly enervated cortex.

All credit, then, to those who slip a little appreciation — or possibly even understanding — of science into potentially unreceptive individuals by hands-on involvement in displays. Two of the most notable centres are the Exploratorium in San Francisco, California, and the Exploratory in Bristol, England, which is probably the leading example in Europe. Visit either and you will see a throng of adults and children almost unwittingly exploring the laws of electricity, magnetism and optics, encountering the luminescent traces of quantum chemistry, or learning about human physiology. The level of explanation may not always be ideal, but the ‘plores’ triumphantly embody an approach that needs to be preserved. They communicate the fundamentals of science, rather than its applications or implications, by engaging the visitor.

Scandalously, the Bristol Exploratory will close at the beginning of next month (see page 804). Having been used as the basis of a successful bid for £41 million (US$65 million) from Britain's national lottery to build a new science centre, to be called “Explore at Bristol”, and having set aside its own fund-raising efforts to support the new centre as, not least, its future home, the Exploratory finds itself out in the cold and without the funds required to continue. Those visiting a preview in Bristol of what the new centre will contain will see their worst fears confirmed: the organizers have settled for high-tech, screen-based demonstrations that make minimal effort to engage and stimulate the mind, and provide little explanation of scientifically shallow displays.

It is essential that scientific substance be incorporated into the new centre. Although it needs to have a broader appeal than a solely hands-on science centre can provide, Explore should incorporate the philosophy and exhibits of the Exploratory, so that the ideal of promoting understanding through fun can be sustained. Anything less would be to throw away a gem of scientific culture.