Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination thrills the masses at the Museum of Science
by Josh B. Wardrop

If your child is a Star Wars fan, he or she might have had a lightsaber down on their holiday wish list last month. One trip to the toy store later, your young Jedi was probably happily chasing after the cat, swinging away, lost in a world of fantasy.

Or is it fantasy after all? Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination, the newest exhibit at Boston's Museum of Science, brings the outlandish alien worlds and technology of George Lucas' beloved cinematic tales down to Earth, exploring how scientific principles of our real world are reflected in the devices used by Luke Skywalker and friends in their battle against the evil Empire. Visitors get to do hands-on work in the field of robotics and engineering-constructing their own rudimentary magnet controlled vehicles and robots-while those who are less scientifically-minded can simply thrill to the sight of spaceship models, costumes and props used in all six Star Wars films.

"We tried very hard to provide enough different types of experience to reward everybody," says Ed Rodley, exhibit planner for Where Science Meets Imagination. "Whether you want to build things hands-on or just stare at the models, there's a worthwhile educational experience for you." Using a motion picture blockbuster as the inspiration for an exhibit isn't new to the Museum of Science-they hosted a Lord of the Rings-themed exhibit in 2004. However, where the Rings exhibit was more specifically about the science and special effects of movie-making, the Star Wars exhibit is, in Rodley's words, "not really about Star Wars, per se. It's about giving people an image of what our possible future might look like. We're taking the robots, the spacecraft, and such, as saying, 'That's the fantasy, now here's what it means for us.'"

Thus far, response to the Museum of Science exhibition has been consistent with just about anything else with the Star Wars name on it. Rodley says that the museum has sold more than 85,000 tickets since the exhibit opened at the end of October. "We're running well ahead of both of our last two separate-fee shows," says Rodley, who adds that since the exhibit opened the Museum of Science has had two of its top 10 busiest days in its history.

Getting people to learn during their leisure time can be a hard sell for any institution, and some may inevitably suggest the cynical view that the Museum of Science's embrace of the Star Wars brand is little more than a marketing ploy to seduce people into seeing the museum in a new light. In Rodley's opinion, though, developing an exhibit that utilizes the artifacts and imagery of the world's most popular motion picture franchise is less about jumping on a pop culture bandwagon and more about addressing the museum world's quest for relevance and for finding exhibit subjects that resonate with diverse audiences.

"The Museum of Science has a reputation, to some degree, of being a place you come to as a kid, then you stop when you become an adult, and then you come back when you have kids of your own," Rodley says. "We're always struggling with that. And that's what makes something like the this Star Wars exhibit so important-because it appeals to such a wide audience." Rodley, for his part, doesn't necessarily see the influence of pop culture on museum exhibits as such a new and exploding trend. "I know there's a perception that it's been happening more often, but as someone who's been in the industry for 20 years, I'm not sure that's true," he says.

In fact, Rodley adds, "pop culture," however one chooses to define it, has had its influence on museums for a very long time. "If you go back to the 1890s, art museums were full of impressionist shows," he says. "At the time, impressionism basically qualified as pop culture."

Actor Anthony Daniels, who portrayed faithful protocol droid C-3PO in all six Star Wars films, had a strong involvement with the Museum of Science exhibit, contributing narration for the accompanying planetarium film Far, Far Away: The Worlds of Star Wars, as well as writing the foreword for the book that accompanies the exhibit and appearing in-person at kick-off events for the show in October. Daniels, who has also worked with museums in Japan and Europe on Star Wars-themed exhibits, sees the Boston exhibition as much more than just a chance for Star Wars fans to indulge in nostalgia for the movies they loved.

"I love that we're not just talking about the movies," says Daniels. "We're dealing with the serious scientific inspiration behind them."

USING THE FORCE Checking out Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination takes less time than, say, watching the six Star Wars films back-to-back. But there's still a galaxy worth of cool exhibits and pieces of memorabilia to see. For those whose attention spans run at lightspeed, however, here's a guide to some of the must-see highlights. ● FLY LIKE A FALCON: Many Gen-Xers grew up wanting to take a ride in Han Solo's battered but beloved starship, the Millennium Falcon, and the Museum of Science exhibit gives them the chance. Visitors enter a full-size replica of the Falcon cockpit and experience the "jump to lightspeed" in this flight simulation which also includes a multimedia presentation that Rodley describes as "a tour from the earth to the end of the universe, utilizing real, recent astronomical data." ● BUILD YOUR OWN DROID: You won't end up with anything that speaks 6 million languages, like C-3PO, but the interactive Robot Engineering Design Lab allows visitors to put together their own mini-robots-deciding whether to outfit them with wheels, treads or other features-and attempt to negotiate them from one end of a platform to the other. Rodley says the exhibit shows guests the complex thought process needed by real-world robotics experts to build mechanical men that can achieve the functions of "mobility, perception and cognition." ● GIVE STAR WARS ITS PROPS: The exhibit represents the motherlode for Star Wars fans-at least the ones that have never infiltrated George Lucas's bedroom closet. Included within the exhibit is an unprecedented collection of actual movie props, such as Luke's landspeeder from the original film (displayed publicly for the first time), lightsabers belonging to characters like Darth Vader, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Mace Windu, model starships, Jedi robes and even a rubberized Yoda puppet.

The Far Far Away film, for example, looks at the varied, exotic planets in Star Wars-such as the forest moon of Endor from Return of the Jedi, the ice planet of Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back, the lava world of Mustafar from Revenge of the Sith and others-and speculates, based on factual information scientists have learned about our solar system, whether similar worlds could exist in real life, and whether civilizations could grow out of these extreme conditions. Could the idea of Wookiees, Ewoks and the like be less far-fetched than we imagine?

Where Science Meets Imagination, the exhibit, is described by Rodley as "hard fun." "It's something that people are invested and interested in enough to stretch themselves [to get their heads around all of it]," he says, "and it's the Star Wars aspect of it that provides a positive association and makes them willing to do that."

Or, to put it another way, Rodley points out that simply mentioning an exhibit about alternative transportation technology might not mean much of anything to, or inspire excitement for, the average person. "But when you take it a step further and say that Luke Skywalker's landspeeder is an example of that," Rodley says, "you've given people a positive association from their childhood to go with that. Lots of people saw the films and thought it would be cool to have one of those. Our exhibit asks, and hopefully answers, the question, 'Well, why would it be cool to have one?'"

"The clever thing about the exhibition," Daniels says, "is that it suggests ways in which astronomy, robotics, real science. have been reflected in George's wild imagination. It's not this tremendously technical experience, but you'd be surprised what you can learn from it."

Get Your Geek On Fancy yourself a sci-fi nut? MIT is a mere stone's throw from the Museum of Science, and it's not the only spot in town where the math/science obsessed can be found. ● MIT MUSEUM.  MIT needs a whole museum to display 150 years worth of its scientific accomplishments. Exhibit highlights include an interactive look at the world of modern-day robots and the art of former MIT professor Richard Filipowski. Refer to listing, page 35. ● MIRACLE OF SCIENCE BAR & GRILLE, 321 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, 617-868-2866. Cozy up alongside MIT grads for a burger from the Periodic Table-inspired menu while attempting to calculate the effects of beer consumption on your fellow, laptop-toting patrons. ● COLLISION COLLECTIVE. Collision Collective specializes in art that incorporates technology including that of founding member Brian Knep, on display January 5 from 7-9 p.m. at Art Interactive (130 Bishop Allen Drive, Cambridge, 617-498-0100). Knep actually won two Oscars for creating the CGI for Jurassic Park and also worked on the special edition of Star Wars: A New Hope. ● THE ART OF SCIENCE. Boston-birthplace of such legendary inventions as the telephone- celebrates technology with an art exhibit at the Mayor's Gallery at City Hall. The group exhibit features Boston artists and features everything from interactive projections to solar powered insect sculptures. ● ARISIA 2006. Science Fiction fans unite at this annual convention held at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel January 13-15. Peruse the latest in sci fi-themed computer games or catch screenings of such classics as It Came from Outer Space. For more information visit: 2006.arisia.org. ● SCI-FI COLLECTABLES SHOPPING. Comicopia (464 Comm. Ave., 617-266-4266) and Comicazi (380 Highland Ave., Somerville, 617-666-COMIX) specialize in comic books and sci-fi memorabilia and come highly recommended for those in search of their very own Boba Fett action figure.