Palais de la découverte

The Palais de la Découverte began its life as a temporary experiment during the nineteen thirty-seven International Exhibition in Paris. Its founder, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Jean Perrin, wanted to create a space that demystified science for the general public through direct participation. The project was such an immediate success, drawing over two million visitors in its first six months, that the French government decided to turn it into a permanent institution the following year. It occupies the west wing of the Grand Palais, a grand structure originally built for the nineteen hundred Exposition Universelle.