MARYLAND SCIENCE CENTER 

601 Light St.
Located at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor
410-685-5225

HOURS:
Weekdays 10am-5pm
Weekends 10am-6pm

ADMISSION:
$10.00

Check it Out!
Maryland Science Center 2000 Calendar of Events
Maryland Science Center Schedule of Exhibits
Transportation Services to and from the Science Center
Information about the Davis Planetarium

In 1797, an affable group of men were credited with founding an organization by the name of "The Maryland Academy of Sciences". Inspired by founding member and impresario, Charles Wilson Peale, the Academy opened its first "real” museum, “The Museum of Natural History”, on April 7, 1797. It was located at 45 South Charles Street in Baltimore.

In 1826 the organization would become incorporated under the name, "The Maryland Academy of Science and Literature". However, over the course of four decades, the museum would be beleaguered by many obstacles including a tragic fire that destroyed much of the group's library, collections, and records. 

In the early 20^th century, Herbert A. Wagner, longtime president of the Baltimore Gas and Electric Company, who became the Academy's President and Chairman of its Board of Directors created a new institution and opened the “Maryland Science Center” at Baltimore's Inner Harbor on June 13, 1976.  

One of the oldest scientific institutions in the country, the Maryland Science Center is probably the second most popular attraction in Baltimore (the National Aquarium being the first). Although the Science Center is mainly geared toward children, it can be fun for everyone provided you enter with an active imagination. Visitors will find loads of entertainment with three floors of exhibits, some permanent and others just visiting.

 

On the first floor are three permanent exhibits: the Dino Digs, offering visitors a unique look at native Maryland dinosaurs; the Chesapeake Bay, a natural resource exhibit that features live aquatic animals; and the Science Arcade, which has dozens of hands-on experiments involving touch, sight, sound, mechanics, magnetism and light.

 

Some of the more popular permanent exhibits on the second floor include: Energy, where visitors can explore the spectacular realms of various forms of energy and fuels; the Demonstration Stage, which offers live, audience participating, presentations on some common and uncommon scientific phenomena; and the Outer Space Place, which has everything from live broadcasts from NASA TV, to astronaut spacesuits, to updated looks at the Hubble Space Telescope, and much more.

 

Some permanent third floor exhibits include: Beyond Numbers, where a cutting-edge exhibit shows visitors how mathematics enriches and explains the world in which we live; the K.I.D.S. Room, with hands-on exhibits designed especially for children ages 3-7; and the To The Top Mural, displaying the work of local school children who collaborated with the Science Center, researched and designed their paintings of various landscapes.

 

Also included in a visit to the Science Center are the larger-than-life films presented at the IMAX Theater, featuring a five-story movie screen with an 11,000-watt sound system blasting through 38 speakers, The Davis Planetarium, where visitors can explore the deepest realms of space; and the Asteroids in the Atrium, where folks can view models of both the Near-Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft and an asteroid – presented to the MSC by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. -- Michael Rando