Empowering Curiosity in a Science Center: A Conversation with Miha Kos

Miha Kos is a physicist and the director of the first Slovenian hands-on science centre, established in 1996 in Ljubljana: its name is Hiša eksperimentov (which can be translated as "the house of experiments"). Kos has been there since the very birth of the institution, so he likes to say that "some of my dreams came true, and of course, I'm still dreaming".

First of all, what is special about Hiša eksperimentov?

It started as a science centre, a place where we promoted science, but it changed into a place that empowers people and promotes the scientific way of thinking. So there's a huge difference between promoting science and promoting the scientific way of thinking, which is a critical way of reasoning. It is a virtue to empower people to accept mistakes as a step forward. We try to create a safe environment for making mistakes. This is an environment that every good parent should build in their home and every good teacher should create in school, because it's important to make mistakes and be rewarded for them, not punished for them.

Einstein once said, "The one who never made a mistake never did anything new." But what's the definition of mistake or failure? I did my PhD in physics, and in producing the final results of a PhD, you take many steps left and right, and then you return. You see that you thought something was wrong, but it wasn't; it was a process of thinking. So you had to try these possibilities to go further and further, gain new knowledge, empower yourself, and move forward. So mistakes are crucial.

Science is often perceived as something very certain, but actually it is not; probably the hardest thing to explain is the uncertainty inherent in the research process...

Or the certainty of uncertainty. The only sure thing is the Bible... and the character of science is that you cannot escape mistakes; this is science. 

Science is about making a model of nature, or whatever, and it is always simplifying the model because nature is so complicated that you have to simplify it to make a model of it. So you start by defining a horse as a sphere, then you see that some things don't work with that, so you have to move from a sphere to maybe a cylinder. Then you understand that you have to add more cylinders and so on. And then slowly you get to such a complex shape, for instance, as a horse is. Then you start explaining its functionality and how it works, and it always works — until you realise you have to improve your model again.

So it's simple analogies: Newtonian physics jumping into Einstein physics, where it just worked until we were talking about basketballs, sheep, and stuff like that. But when you start talking about very fast or very small things, things get complicated, and the model doesn't work. So the scientists ask, why doesn't it work? What have I learned from this model? How can I make it better? And that's how science is constantly evolving. There is no book of science you should believe in or hold on to; you should always have doubts and always check.

How do you think SciComm principles or good practices specifically apply in a science centre or a place like Hiša Eksperimentov?

First, Hiša Eksperimentov is science communication as it is: it's a place for constant learning. It's not a place meant only for kids, but also for people who have a child in them (and they don't need to be pregnant). It's a playful way of learning; it's childlike curiosity, which all scientists should have.

And in fact, it's also a place to show that everyone who is curious is, in fact, a scientist. If you are in the kitchen cooking, you are a scientist. If you say, "Why wasn't the food I made tasty?" and you investigate it. You see, maybe there was too much salt, or not enough salt, or you should put some pepper or coriander in it —that's the scientific way of thinking: you learn from the mistakes you make, you develop yourself, you grow.

Sometimes I like to compare the process of learning with climbing. You have to put some effort into climbing to get to a higher point where you get a better view. And then you find out that if you put in more effort, you will have an even better view. And the beautiful thing about learning is that you see you can never reach the top. That you can always learn, that you can always climb, you can always put in more effort, and you will always have a better view.

So how do you identify your public, your audience?

Our public is mostly students from primary and secondary schools. But we also have a university for older people. We also have birthday parties inside the science centre, and we just had a lady celebrating her 92nd birthday there. We also have couples, families, and single people visiting the science centre. That's what I like—that everyone can find something for themselves.

Then how can you be sure that your communication is effective for such a broad audience?

You never know, but you get feedback. We have a book of comments where the vast majority say "perfect", "beautiful", and so on. But you don't learn from these nice comments; you like to hear what's not so good. So maybe they want a bigger space, more exhibits, more science shows, and more activities. Of course, we do too. We are trying to change this, which is why we started a new activity to establish a kind of "reach-out science centre". We have a van and developed 100 tabletop exhibits. We go to schools, say, and turn them into science centres for one day. The next day, we go to another place, put on exhibits in another school, and do science shows in the gym.

I've heard you also do something called "science on the bus": can you explain what that is?

Science on the bus is many things; in fact, it started with the World Year of Physics (in 2005). One thing is that we put kind of exhibits—just two-dimensional written exhibits—inside a public transportation bus. We put a set of common science questions (like "Why is the sky blue?" or "Why is the sunset red?" and so on...) inside the bus. These questions are at the entrance, with no answers but some tips or further thinking at the exit of the bus, so while travelling, people could think and check. Then we put exhibits inside a bus that changes lines every day, so all the people who travel on it (which is yet another type of people—it's not people who would go to the science centre, maybe) can have the chance to experience them.

During the science festival we organised, we put hands-on exhibits (which we call mobile exhibits) inside the bus. We go to several locations outside the town, and the bus stops there for 2–3 hours. The schools from that area send students there to do experiments on the bus.

And finally (but hopefully not finally, since I hope we'll find another use, since the local bus company likes very much what we are doing, and it's a mutual interest), one thing we also developed is a science show on a moving bus. There are things you can show in a non-inertial system (as it is called in physics) while the bus is driving. For instance, if you throw a basketball to someone else on the bus while it is making a curve or speeding up or slowing down, then things get messy. And this bus somehow is like the Earth; we are not on a flat, non-moving Earth, so the effects you experience in the bus can apply to what is happening on and in the Earth.

[That surely sounds like an enjoyable side of Science Communication.]