Dumbing down of science museums happened decades ago. The Smithsonian, the Henry Ford Museum, and the Science Museum in London were made more "accessible". They used to focus on historically significant artifacts, without much explanation. Then they switched to heavy explanation of the basics.

The Science Museum in London still had Maudslay's lathe on display. Maudslay's lathe is the direct ancestor of all modern lathes, with its slide rest and the leadscrew drive. No previous lathe was like that. So it's one of those rare artifacts that changed the world. People walk by it to get to see James Bond's car. That was the strength of that museum - they had some of the first examples of key advances.

The Henry Ford Museum used to have really obscure items. "Capacitor, Cornell-Dublier, 1938". A combination television camera and kinescope projector for rotating disk television. Then they added explanatory exhibits and pushed aside the small obscure stuff. That was probably for the best; it was like a really well funded antique shop. The kids just want to see the locomotives, anyway.

The Smithsonian was once called "The Nation's Attic". Now, most of the obscure stuff has been moved out to storage in favor of more understandable exhibits. They used to have a history of clock escapements, with a working model of each type, kept wound and running. No more. The Arts and Industries Building had even older stuff. Their stamp collection had examples of all US stamps.

I think you would appreciate Munich's science museum (https://www.deutsches-museum.de/en/museum-island/visit). They've done a solid job of balancing accessibility and hard science, and updating many of the old models and displays from the last century, including the wing devoted to bridge building.

I spent a good 45 minutes drinking in the exhibits around hydropower generation. And who doesn't appreciate a cutaway section of one of the first Airbus jetliners? https://www.deutsches-museum.de/en/museum-island/exhibitions...

The lathe is on display right now.

https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co46284...

> One of those rare artifacts that changed the world.

It's so enriching to see one of these artifacts - I don't think it's quite possible to understand the feeling without seeing one of them in real life.

A really memorable moment was stubmling across the two oldest surviving printing presses at a small museum in Antwerp - [the Plantin-Moretus museum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plantin%E2%80%93Moretus_Museum).

Everybody strolled right by it - for me, just looking at it made me feel more connected to the history of the written word.