Byzantine Magpie
Thinker
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2002
- Messages
- 144
I was interested in the reference to this matter in the 23 December 2005 commentary.
I had the same problems with the shop at Questacon, the science museum in Canberra. The shop there had some astrology-related products on sale.
I wrote several letters, and happily the products were withdrawn from sale.
In the replies I received from Questacon Management, they said that the shop was a commercial enterprise, and not run by Questacon itself. The owners simply sold what they thought would sell. I appreciate that, and I have no particular problem with private shops selling such products. But in the case of a shop which customers will clearly identify with a place with a particular vision (science education), customers will assume that whatever is sold is endorsed by the place's Management. That would be all the more so given that all the other merchandise on sale clearly had a scientific basis. It would be all too logical to assume that it was *all* scientific, even the astrology books.
I had the same problems with the shop at Questacon, the science museum in Canberra. The shop there had some astrology-related products on sale.
I wrote several letters, and happily the products were withdrawn from sale.
In the replies I received from Questacon Management, they said that the shop was a commercial enterprise, and not run by Questacon itself. The owners simply sold what they thought would sell. I appreciate that, and I have no particular problem with private shops selling such products. But in the case of a shop which customers will clearly identify with a place with a particular vision (science education), customers will assume that whatever is sold is endorsed by the place's Management. That would be all the more so given that all the other merchandise on sale clearly had a scientific basis. It would be all too logical to assume that it was *all* scientific, even the astrology books.