This article presents some of the challenges faced in developing an interactive exhibit on nanoscience and nanotechnology in Brazil. Presenting a scientific-technological area which is still in formation and which is little known by the population leads to a (re)consideration of the role of museums and science centers in the conformation and consolidation of scientific practice itself. Museographically, the exhibit deals with the challenge of making matter visible in an expression which is distant from the human perception. Some reflections are presented here on the option of musealization chosen which come from a broader evaluation of the exhibit.

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Understanding the dialogue between museums and their visitors enables museums to subsist, undergo transformations and become consolidated as socially valued cultural venues. The Museo de La Plata (Argentina) was created in the late nineteenth century as a natural history museum, and this study shows that currently the museum is valued socially as a venue for family leisure and education, at which people make sense to the objects exhibited through characteristics conferred upon them by both the institution and the visitor. Nevertheless, such dialogue is somehow affected by the museographic proposal and the public interpretation of the institutional narrative, which could be analysed within the frame of contextual learning. As a consequence, the evolutionary idea that the museum aims to communicate is distorted by the public. This article highlights the importance of considering the visitors' interpretations when planning museum exhibitions, a perspective that has been rather absent in the Argentinian museums.

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In the closing decades of the nineteenth century, natural history museums established solid communication networks, and their different audiences formed what became known as the 'museum movement'. It was within this context of exchange that William H. Flower made his 1889 speech on the roles natural history museums should play. The article analyzes his influence on Argentina's Museo da La Plata, a member of this then-expanding circuit of museums.

Resumen. Este trabajo presenta un estudio sobre las imágenes de ciencia y de científi co de estudiantes de licenciaturas en ciencias naturales. Se analizan las implicaciones de sus representaciones en relación con una futura inserción en el campo científi co. La defi nición de categorías para el análisis cualitativo se realizó en función de los mismos datos, procesados previamente según la semiótica de enunciados. Tanto el marco teórico como la metodología empleada constituyen aportes originales al estudio de imágenes de ciencia en contextos educativos. Asimismo se pretende que las refl exiones emergentes sirvan como una contribución para el análisis crítico de las prácticas de enseñanza y aprendizaje. Palabras clave. Imagen de ciencia, imagen de científi co, representación social, estudiantes universitarios. Summary.We present a study about the image of science and scientists among natural sciences students at university level. The connection between the consequences of such representations and their future insertion in the scientifi c fi eld are also analysed. Defi ning the categories for a qualitative analysis was done based on the data that had been previously processed as per the semiotics of the statements. Both the theoretical framework and the methodology used can be considered original contributions to studies about the image of science in educational contexts. The resulting refl ections will also be used in a critical analysis of teaching and learning activities.

A fines del siglo XIX los museos de historia natural crecían y se diversificaban en América Latina participando del «movimiento de museos». En ese contexto se analiza aquí la influencia de William Flower y la denominada new museum idea, en la conformación inicial del Museo

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