History
Planning began in 1978 by members of the Junior League of Palo Alto and later assistance by the San Jose Junior League. The first 20,000-square-foot (1,900 m2) temporary exhibit finally opened in 1990 “The Garage” as it was named, opened in San Jose’s former convention center. On October 31, 1998, it opened a brand-new 132,000-square-foot (12,300 m2) facility, and has had 4,000,000 visitors.
The museum is composed of three floors, each with its own significance. The ground floor has the main entrance, a gift shop and cafe, the Imax theater, and a recreational area that is reserved for special events. The Tech Store contains various gifts, shirts and souvenirs. Café Primavera offers a varied menu of pasta dishes, sandwiches, pizzas, soups and salads for both adults and children. The ground level is a location where Segway and other robotic demos are displayed and given. The Tech Museum's architecture is the work of Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta.
Four major theme galleries fill the upper level and lower level of the museum: Communication, Exploration, Innovation and Life Tech. These galleries are constantly being revamped and changed to fit the theme movies and exhibits. On the lower level there is also a public piece of artwork titled “Origin”, which is inside a 45-foot-tall (14 m) cylinder.
The Hackworth IMAX Dome Theater (named after Mike and Joan Hackworth) shows mainstream movies as well as educational films. It is Northern California’s only domed IMAX Theater and can seat up to 295 people. IMAX stands for maximum image, the film is four times larger than normal movie film, and the projector is as large as a Volkswagen beetle, which allows for larger projection.
Read more about this topic: The Tech Museum Of Innovation
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Most events recorded in history are more remarkable than important, like eclipses of the sun and moon, by which all are attracted, but whose effects no one takes the trouble to calculate.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Jesus Christ belonged to the true race of the prophets. He saw with an open eye the mystery of the soul. Drawn by its severe harmony, ravished with its beauty, he lived in it, and had his being there. Alone in all history he estimated the greatness of man.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“The best history is but like the art of Rembrandt; it casts a vivid light on certain selected causes, on those which were best and greatest; it leaves all the rest in shadow and unseen.”
—Walter Bagehot (1826–1877)