Scienceworks is a

science museum A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, Industry (manufacturing), industry and Outline of industrial ...

in Spotswood, a suburb of

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Victoria. It is one of three museums operated by Museums Victoria. Displays and activities offered by the museum include hands-on experiments, demonstrations, and tours. Scienceworks is housed in a purpose-built building "styled along industrial lines" near the historic Spotswood Pumping Station, constructed in 1897, whose steam engines form an associated exhibit. The pumping station forms part of the museum complex.

History

Scienceworks opened on 27 March 1992, and was opened by then-Premier

Joan Kirner Joan Elizabeth Kirner (née Hood; 20 June 1938 – 1 June 2015) was an Australian politician who was the 42nd Premier of Victoria, serving from 1990 to 1992. A Australian Labor Party (Victorian Branch), Labor Party member of the Parliament of ...

. Its first permanent exhibitions were ''Inventions'', ''Energy'', ''Travel'' and ''Materials''. The Melbourne Planetarium at Scienceworks opened in 1999. The planetarium was the first in the Southern Hemisphere to have a digital star projector, as well as digital projection capabilities. Until late 2013, the 1883 clock tower from Flinders Street station was also located at the museum. The clock had been moved to Princes Bridge station in 1905 and Spencer Street station in 1911, where it remained until sold into private ownership after the station redevelopment of 1967. The clock restored with an electric movement is now located at the Southern Cross station. In 2018, the CSIRAC (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation Automatic Computer) was transferred from the Melbourne Museum to the ''Think Ahead'' exhibit.

Facilities

The "lightning room" is a 120-seat auditorium that presents demonstrations about

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

, featuring a giant Tesla Coil, capable of generating two million volts of electricity, producing three metre

lightning Lightning is a natural phenomenon consisting of electrostatic discharges occurring through the atmosphere between two electrically charged regions. One or both regions are within the atmosphere, with the second region sometimes occurring on ...

bolts. The Melbourne Planetarium is housed on site. On Friday nights, movies are shown in the planetarium.

Exhibits

There are two types of exhibits at Scienceworks. Temporary exhibits run for a specific period of time, such as the ''Rescue'' exhibition, which ran from 26 March to 5 October, 2014. Permanent exhibits at Scienceworks include ''Think Ahead'' (opened 5 December 2013), which is about advances in science and the speculative future, and ''Sportsworks'' (opened <2000), which is about the science of

sports Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...

and the movement of the body. ''Beyond Perception: Seeing the Unseen'' (opened 2018) is about invisible

forces In physics, a force is an influence that can cause an object to change its velocity unless counterbalanced by other forces. In mechanics, force makes ideas like 'pushing' or 'pulling' mathematically precise. Because the magnitude and directi ...

. ''Ground Up: Building Big Ideas, Together'' (opened 4 December 2017) is a sensory exhibit for babies to 5-year-olds.

Gallery

File:Steam engine, Scienceworks, Melbourne.jpg, Steam-driven pump engine File:CSIRAC at Scienceworks, Melbourne.jpg, CSIRAC computer display File:Spotswood Pumping Station,Spotswood, Victoria Australia.jpg, Spotswood Pumping Station

References

External links

Scienceworks website
Museums in Melbourne Technology museums in Australia Science museums in Australia Museums established in 1992 1992 establishments in Australia Science and technology in Melbourne Tourist attractions in Victoria (state) Buildings and structures in the City of Hobsons Bay Planetaria in Australia {{VictoriaAU-struct-stub