The Bakken
The Bakken Museum (/ˈbɑːkən/ BAH-kən) is situated in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Established in 1975 by Earl Bakken, the co-founder of Medtronic, it serves as a science museum. The museum boasts interactive displays covering various topics within science, technology, and the humanities. Notably, it includes a substantial exhibit dedicated to Mary Shelley's classic novel Frankenstein.[1]
Established
The museum houses approximately 11,000 written works and around 2,000 scientific instruments, with a particular focus on electrophysiology and electrotherapeutics. Notable holdings include works authored by Jean Antoine Nollet, Benjamin Franklin, Giovanni Battista Beccaria, Luigi Galvani, Giovanni Aldini, Alessandro Volta, Guillame Benjamin Amand Duchenne, and Emil Heinrich Du Bois-Reymond. Additionally, the museum holds journals such as Annalen der Physik, the Philosophical Transactions, Proceedings of the Royal Society, and Zeitschrift für Physik.[2] Within the museum, there exists an exhibit dedicated to Frankenstein, which explores the intersection of electricity and medicine depicted in Mary Shelley's novel. This portrayal, as well as the subsequent 1931 film adaptation featuring Boris Karloff, directly influenced Bakken's pursuit of invention. Bakken's endeavors culminated in his invention of the pacemaker and the establishment of Medtronic.[1]
The museum's permanent exhibits are[3]
A newspaper reporter once said the venue "seems a throwback to another time when skilled craftsmen shaped stone, wood and glass into places with lasting appeal".[2]
Flower in a Bakken garden
Bakken Museum sign
Inside the museum
