This piece contrasts the recent emphasis on “interactivity” between the contemporary science museum and its public in Great Britain and France. In Great Britain, growing recognition of the competitive nature of the visitor business has led to an understanding of interactivity as one of a range of technical methods – along with cost control, quality assurance, marketing, and customer relations – that allows a new economic link to be forged between the museum and its public. At La Cite des sciences et de l’industrie at La Villette in Paris, interactivity functions not just in relation to notions of the visitor as active consumer, but also to enable a larger public to recognize the value and experience the excitement of science.
