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He built the Museum of Science
February 6, 2007
According to a Boston Globe interview in 2000, if Bradford Washburn’s obituary was one sentence, he would be happy if it said, “He built the Museum of Science.” And as someone who grew up being a regular visitor of that Boston museum, I agree that it is certainly something of which he should be proud. But what is truly remarkable about the man is how much more he did. He was an accomplished mountaineer who was the first to climb many peaks. He was also a remarkable photographer >, taking breathtaking photographs of the mountains that he climbed. Bradford Washburn died on January 10, 2007, at the age of 96.
During that same week, the first page of the Boston Globe’s business section reported the release of gadget after gadget at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. First it was, “Net video comes to TV.” Then the headline rang, “Apple unveils long-awaited iPhone, set-top TV system.” I began to wonder how many of the men and women who worked to make these technological advances possible were inspired to enter the sciences by something they saw as a child at a science museum. If you were to take a poll, I’d bet the number would be surprisingly high.
Last week the museum that he created held a gala event to pay tribute to Washburn’s life, and my parents were there. My parents are avid museum-goers. My mom is legendary for the amount of time she can spend carefully reading every word on every placard describing each exhibit. My kids make fun of me for doing the same thing. Now, I know this is probably not something to say to a bunch of engineers, but when my children are parents, I hope they spend less time playing with all the gadgets that are bound to come out and more time taking their children to museums.
Posted by Naomi Eigner Price on February 6, 2007 | Comments (0)
