The Physics Museum, located within the Physics Department of the National University of La Plata, has the mission of preserving, studying, and providing access to the historical heritage that forms its collection, and to function as a participatory science center. The Museum’s collection developed around a complete set of Max Kohl demonstration instruments, which was acquired in 1906 to advance physics teaching and research at the university level in Argentina.

This event will begin with a brief video tour of the Museum’s historic building as well as its exhibition room, storage area, and workspaces. Then we will have a brief show & tell with selected museum objects and a Q&A with Cecilia von Reichenbach and Mariana Santamaría.

The Physics Museum seeks to spark curiosity about natural phenomena by stimulating a sense of wonder through participatory experiences. It is a one-floor museum where hundreds of historical instruments await their turn to become part of a dialogue with the public. Some are shown in action on the demonstration table, whereas others, due to their delicate condition, are presented in videos. All serve the purpose of engaging the public with natural phenomena such as motion, light, sound, electricity, magnetism, heat, and radioactivity, in their connections with technology, art, and history. The Museum also offers advice to schools and other museums, and conducts a variety of outreach initiatives including publications, exhibitions, courses, and public programs.

Find out more (in Spanish): http://museo.fisica.unlp.edu.ar/

Our hosts

Dr. Cecilia von Reichenbach holds a PhD in Physics from the National University of La Plata, where she worked for ten years in theoretical physics, and later in the history of Physics in Argentina as well as the public communication of science. She was responsible for setting up, in 1998, the Physics Museum at the Exact Sciences Faculty, where she is also a Professor.

Mariana Santamaría holds a degree in Museology and specializes in the public communication of science. She has been a museologist at the Physics Museum of the National University of La Plata for ten years. Santamaria is also Coordinator of the Observatory of University Museums of the UNLP and an advisor to the Museum area of University of La Plata’s Public Library.

Watch again on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KoQvngIVbI