The Science of Aliens is a touring exhibition that launched at the
London Science Museum
The Science Museum is a major museum on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, London. It was founded in 1857 and is one of the city's major tourist attractions, attracting 3.3 million visitors annually in 2019.
Like other publicly funded ...
in October 2005. It was developed by a company called
The Science of... set up by The Science Museum and Fleming Media. Two versions of the exhibition are touring venues around the world.
Exhibition content
The Science of Aliens asks the question "are we alone in the Universe?" through a combination through the artifacts, interactive and audiovisual exhibits. The exhibition has an introduction section looking at science fiction archetypes before going on to look at what scientists can tell us about the real possibilities for alien life. The second section explores the variety of life on Earth and the extreme conditions in which it can survive. It looks at recent missions to moons and planets in the
Solar System
The Solar System Capitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar ...
and what they can tell us about alien life before going on to examine some extra-solar planets.
The next section presents two fictional planets,
Aurelia and Blue Moon and their ecosystems as imagined by scientists. These are used to explore the factors and parameters governing life on other planets and are presented as two large interactive landscapes.
The exhibition concludes by looking at the chances of communication with alien intelligence. This includes a look at the efforts of SETI and various messages sent out by humans into the Universe and a chance for visitors to compose a message to extraterrestrial intelligence. The Science of Aliens was also made into a best selling book by Jack Challoner.
ART+COM - The Science of Aliens
Development
A variety of experts gave advice on the exhibition development including Simon Conway Morris
Simon Conway Morris (born 1951) is an English palaeontologist, evolutionary biologist, and astrobiologist known for his study of the fossils of the Burgess Shale and the Cambrian explosion. The results of these discoveries were celebrated in ...
, Ian Stewart (mathematician)
Ian Nicholas Stewart (born 24 September 1945) is a British mathematician and a popular-science and science-fiction writer. He is Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at the University of Warwick, England.
Education and early life
Stewart was bo ...
, Jack Cohen (scientist), John Clute, Dougal Dixon
Dougal Dixon (born 1 March 1947) is a Scottish geologist, palaeontologist, educator and author. Dixon has written well over a hundred books on geology and palaeontology, many of them for children, which have been credited with attracting many to ...
, and Mark Brake
Mark Brake (born 31 October 1958) is a Welsh author, broadcaster and former professor of science communication at the University of Glamorgan.
Education
Brake was born at Mountain Ash, Wales, UK. He was awarded a BSc by the University of Gl ...
.
See also
* The Science of...
*Science Museum (London)
The Science Museum is a major museum on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, London. It was founded in 1857 and is one of the city's major tourist attractions, attracting 3.3 million visitors annually in 2019.
Like other publicly funded ...
* The Science of Spying
* The Science of Survival
References
External links
The Science Museum, LondonThe Science of...The Exhibitions Agency Ltd.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Science of Aliens, the
Traveling exhibits
Extraterrestrial life
Astrobiology
Science exhibitions