The Museum of Science Fiction

Last week I had the pleasure of meeting Greg Viggiano, executive director of the hopefully soon-to-be Museum of Science Fiction. Greg's vision is to set MSF in Washington, DC, nestled among (though not as a part of) the many museums of the Smithsonian.

EMP Museum, Seattle

(Until a few weeks ago, I'd labored under the misconception that there was an SF Museum in Seattle. It turns out that science fiction is but an exhibit area within Seattle's much larger EMP Museum (formerly the Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame or EMP | SFM. )

MSF's mission:

The Museum of Science Fiction will be the world’s first comprehensive science fiction museum, covering the history of the genre across the arts and providing a narrative on its relationship to the real world.

Given the popularity of SF -- as in: Star Wars, Star Trek, Aliens, Battlestar Galactica, The X Files, Terminator, Firefly, Avatar ... -- the prospective audience, IMO, is huge.

SF is great entertainment, and on that basis alone merits its own museum. But more than that, SF has inspired many a person to a career in science, technology, engineering, or math. (Me, for one, in my first/thirty-year career.)

In no small part, I will assert, SF inspires some of our greatest advances. Admittedly, we still don't have flying cars, and a Roomba isn't quite a robot butler -- but as private companies spring up to fly tourists into space, resupply the International Space Station, and harvest resources from asteroids, we can see SF's inspiration in action.

Stocking stuffer for your fav fan?

Want to get involved? Check out the Museum of Science Fiction website. Looking for a unique holiday gift idea? Consider a donation to the MSF in the name of your favorite fan.