Feature

Science exhibit contest takes us back to our roots

Michael Littman

Many of us in the scientific and engineering community can trace our professional beginnings to local science museums. In my case, the Brooklyn science museum played an important role in sparking a teenage interest in astronomy that evolved into a career in atomic physics and laser spectroscopy. Jarus Quinn, OSA's executive director, has told me that, as a boy, he was influenced significantly by programs and exhibits at the Franklin Institute— Science Museum of Philadelphia.