Our Dynamic Earth
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Our Dynamic Earth is a science centre in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is a prominent visitors attraction in the city, and also functions as a conference venue. It sits in the Holyrood area, beside the Scottish Parliament building and at the foot of Arthur's Seat.
The centre opened in 1999 as one of the first major projects supported by the UK's Millennium Commission. The project was the centrepiece of an urban regeneration plan which served to bring vitality to the former industrial land at the lower end of the Royal Mile and is housed within a distinctive landmark building, the William Younger Centre.
The building's structure consists of a steel mast-supported membrane stretched over a steel skeleton. It was designed by architects Michael Hopkins and Partners.
The principal focus of Our Dynamic Earth is to facilitate a better public understanding of the processes that have shaped the Earth (known as earth science). This is greatly assisted by the centre's geographical location at the foot of the famous Salisbury Crags, where James Hutton, renowned as the father of modern geology, undertook much of his most important work in the late 18th Century.
The center's Scientific Director is the prominent Scottish geologist and science communicator Dr Stuart Monro who was instrumental in the establishment of the facility, formulating the interpretative plan for the exhibition and working with the designers to ensure the exhibition's scientific accuracy.
