Exploratorium

Physicist Frank Oppenheimer founded the Exploratorium in 1969, opening it inside the Palace of Fine Arts as one of the earliest hands-on science museums, built on the idea that people learn best by touching, testing, and failing at exhibits themselves rather than reading about them. The museum stayed at the Palace for more than four decades before moving to its current home at Pier 15 on the Embarcadero in 2013.

The Exploratorium's model proved so influential that by the early 2000s, roughly 400 science centers in dozens of countries had been built following its hands-on approach. Its Explainer program, which trains teenagers and young adults to staff the exhibit floor, has run since the museum's earliest years and has launched a number of its alumni into science and technology careers.

Because most exhibits are built around a physical action rather than a written explanation, from spinning a wheel to bouncing a beam of light, the museum works well for visitors of any age or English level, and it remains one of the more approachable science museums for a family exploring a new country's institutions for the first time.