Scienceworks Museum (Melbourne)
Encyclopedia
Scienceworks is a world renowned science museum
in Melbourne
, Australia
. It is a venue of Museum Victoria
which administers the cultural and scientific collections of the State of Victoria. It is located in the suburb of Spotswood
.
Opened in March 1992, 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.
Displays and activities offered by the museum include hands-on experiments, demonstrations, and tours. The "lightning room" is a 120-seat auditorium that presents demonstrations about electricity
, featuring a giant Tesla Coil
, capable of generating two million volts of electricity, producing three metre lightning
bolts. The museum also has the only digital planetarium
in the southern hemisphere
.
The 1883 clock tower from Flinders Street Station
is 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 sold into private ownership after the station redevelopment of 1967.
Science museum
A science museum or a science centre 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 and industrial machinery, etc. Modern trends in museology have broadened the range of...
in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. It is a venue of Museum Victoria
Museum Victoria
Museum Victoria is an organisation which operates three major state-owned museums in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; these are: the Melbourne Museum, the Immigration Museum and Scienceworks. It also manages the Royal Exhibition Building and a storage facility in Melbourne's City of Moreland.Museum...
which administers the cultural and scientific collections of the State of Victoria. It is located in the suburb of Spotswood
Spotswood, Victoria
Spotswood is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 7 km south-west from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Hobsons Bay...
.
Opened in March 1992, 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.
Displays and activities offered by the museum include hands-on experiments, demonstrations, and tours. The "lightning room" is a 120-seat auditorium that presents demonstrations about electricity
Electricity
Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
, featuring a giant Tesla Coil
Tesla coil
A Tesla coil is a type of resonant transformer circuit invented by Nikola Tesla around 1891. It is used to produce high voltage, low current, high frequency alternating current electricity. Tesla coils produce higher current than the other source of high voltage discharges, electrostatic machines...
, capable of generating two million volts of electricity, producing three metre lightning
Lightning
Lightning is an atmospheric electrostatic discharge accompanied by thunder, which typically occurs during thunderstorms, and sometimes during volcanic eruptions or dust storms...
bolts. The museum also has the only digital planetarium
Planetarium
A planetarium is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation...
in the southern hemisphere
Southern Hemisphere
The Southern Hemisphere is the part of Earth that lies south of the equator. The word hemisphere literally means 'half ball' or "half sphere"...
.
The 1883 clock tower from Flinders Street Station
Flinders Street Station
Flinders Street Station is the central railway station of the suburban railway network of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is on the corner of Flinders and Swanston Streets next to the Yarra River in the heart of the city, stretching from Swanston Street to Queen Street and covering two city...
is also located at the museum. The clock had been moved to Princes Bridge Station
Princes Bridge railway station, Melbourne
Princes Bridge was a Melbourne railway station built in 1859 and was the terminus for all Epping line and Hurstbridge line trains. The station was named after the adjacent Princes Bridge, which crosses the Yarra River. Originally Princes Bridge station was isolated from Flinders Street Station,...
in 1905 and Spencer Street Station
Southern Cross Station
Southern Cross is a major railway station and transport hub in Melbourne Docklands, Victoria, Australia. It is located on Spencer Street between Collins and La Trobe Streets at the western edge of the central business district...
in 1911, where it remained sold into private ownership after the station redevelopment of 1967.