European Science Museums

In this age of digital television, the Internet and “unimedia”, when it seems we can access everything from our own homes, is there still a future for museums? Nowadays do developments in science and technology – the uses of which are becoming increasingly controversial, the source of hopes but also of fears – generate the same enthusiasm as they did in the “golden age” when everyone had faith in progress?
And what can museums of science and technology do – with what limits and under what conditions – to inform their visitors and encourage them to take part in the dialogue between science, technology and society that is now so vital?
Dominique Ferriot retraces here how such museums have evolved or, rather, have adapted to modern needs for an understanding of the changes under way, helping people to adopt or reject the new tools and use them in ways that are often quite different from the ones for which they were designed.