Museum of the History of Science, Oxford

Museum of the History of Science
The Old Ashmolean Building as it stands today
Museum of the History of Science, Oxford
Established	1683 (as Ashmolean Museum) 1924 (as Museum of the History of Science)
Location	Broad Street, Oxford, England
Coordinates	51°45′16″N 1°15′19″W / 51.75443°N 1.25519°W / 51.75443; -1.25519
Type	University museum of the history of science
Director	Silke Ackermann
Website	www.mhs.ox.ac.uk

The Museum of the History of Science, located in Broad Street, Oxford, England, is home to a leading collection of scientific instruments from medieval times to the 17th century. Its collection of 18th and 19th-century instruments is also substantial. The building is the world's oldest surviving purpose-built museum.

Overview

The current collection contains around 18,000 objects from antiquity to the early 20th century, representing almost all aspects of the history of science and is used for both academic study and enjoyment by the visiting public. The museum contains a wide range of scientific instruments, such as quadrants, astrolabes (the most complete collection in the world with c.170 instruments), sundials, early mathematical instruments (used for calculating, astronomy, navigation, surveying and drawing), optical instruments (microscopes, telescopes and cameras), equipment associated with chemistry, natural philosophy and medicine, and a reference library regarding the history of scientific instruments that includes manuscripts, incunabula, prints and printed ephemera, and early photographic items.

Built in 1683 to house Elias Ashmole's collection, the museum building became known as the Old Ashmolean Building (to distinguish it from the newer Ashmolean Museum building where the Ashmolean Museum of Art & Archaeology moved in 1894) and was the world's first purpose-built museum building; it was also open to the public. The original concept of the museum was to institutionalize the new learning about nature that appeared in the 17th century and experiments concerning natural philosophy were undertaken in a chemical laboratory in the basement, while lectures and demonstration took place in the School of Natural History, on the middle floor. Ashmole's collection was expanded to include a broad range of activities associated with the history of natural knowledge and in 1924 the gift of Lewis Evans' collection allowed the museum further improvement, becoming the Museum of the History of Science and appointing Robert Gunther as its first curator.

The collection and the building itself now occupies a special position in the study of the history of science and in the development of western culture and collecting. One of the most iconic objects in the collection is Einstein's Blackboard^[1] that Albert Einstein used on 16 May 1931 during his lectures while visiting Oxford, rescued by E. J. Bowen at the end of the lecture.

From October 2009 through February 2010, the Museum hosted the first major exhibition of Steampunk art objects, curated by Art Donovan and presented by Dr Jim Bennett, then the museum director.^[2][3]

The museum is open to the general public with free admission, every afternoon except Mondays and also Saturday mornings.

Curators

The following have been Curator/Secretary to the Committee or director at the museum:^[4][5]

• R. T. Gunther (1924–40)
• F. Sherwood Taylor (1940–45, temporary; 1945–50)
• C. H. Josten (1950–64; 1964–94, emeritus)
• F. R. Maddison (1964–94)
• J. A. Bennett (1994–2012)
• Stephen Johnston (acting director, 2012–14)
• Silke Ackermann (2014 onwards)

Gallery

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  Museum, Theatre and Printing House. Historical view east along Broad Street. Image courtesy of the Museum of the History of Science.

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  An early piece of radio equipment by Guglielmo Marconi, on display in the Museum.

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  Stained glass window on the staircase at the museum, including Elias Ashmole's coat of arms.

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  Einstein's Blackboard, used by Albert Einstein in a 1931 lecture in Oxford.^[1]

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  Beevers–Lipson strips,^[2] part of the Crystals special exhibition in 2014, used by Nobel Prize winner Dorothy Hodgkin for crystallography calculations in Oxford.

1. ^ Cite error: The named reference blackboard was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
2. ^ "Set of Beevers Lipson Strips, Sine Set, c.1936" (80368). Oxford: Museum of the History of Science. Retrieved 28 March 2014. 

See also

• Dr Jim Bennett, the museum's former Keeper/Director (retired in 2012)
• Dr Silke Ackermann, the museum's Director (from 2014)
• Oxford University Scientific Society
• Whipple Museum of the History of Science, the equivalent institution at the University of Cambridge

References

External links

• Museum website