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Armillary Sphere in the Top Gallery, History of Science Museum, University of Oxford

Welcome

Explore stories, ideas and questions that connect our human experience across time and space

Plan your visit

Celebrating the life of Professor Jim Bennett

Our friend and colleague Professor Jim Bennett — the Museum’s Director from 1994-2012 — died on 28 October 2023.

Read a tribute

COVID display Visitor writing on Doffing Shed wall

Display: COVID: Stories from a Segregated Society

Is the pandemic over? For most people, perhaps. But many of us are still living with its after-effects.

From oximeters and MRI to Community Memories and doffing sheds, join us to discover how communities came together through COVID, and why researchers at Oxford University and around the world are working to understand the long-term impacts of the virus.

Take a look before you visit

Display: Lyra's Worlds

In the Museum that inspired Lyra's alethiometer ...

Just like Lyra with her alethiometer, we search for answers to life's questions in our moving universe. Journey to our Basement and step into the world of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials. Discover iconic costumes and devices from the BBC series, explore intriguing dials that inspired Philip Pullman to create Lyra's alethiometer, and send your questions out to the cosmos.

Step into Lyra's Worlds ...

Making Waves display 21300 Marconi's Oil Righi Oscillator

Display: Making Waves - Marconi's Radio Revolution

Guglielmo Marconi had a simple vision — to connect the world through wireless technology.

Discover how Marconi's hands-on experiments explored the unseen world of radio waves — and changed forever the way our world stays connected.

Take a look before you visit.

Find out more

Display & online story: Einstein's Blackboard

More than just a glimpse into the mind of a genius, Einstein's Blackboard is an intriguing snapshot of a key moment in our understanding of the cosmos.

But if he had written those equations just two years earlier, it would have described a very different view of the universe.

Why did Einstein change his mind? Discover the story behind the Blackboard.

Explore Before the Blackboard …

Armillary Sphere (70229) in the Top Gallery, History of Science Museum, University of Oxford (Photo by Ian Wallman)

Collections Online

Our objects and archives at your fingertips in one, easy-to-use search dashboard.

Start your search

45747 Astrolabe, by Muhammad Muqim al-Yazdi, Persian, 1647/8

Science in the Islamic World

We are guardians of the world's most comprehensive collection of astronomical instruments from the Islamic World.

Explore our fascinatingly rich and diverse collection, including A History of the Islamic World in 11 Maps.

Discover the collection

Portrait of young boy with Sir John Chardin (stairwell view) Inv no: 72661

Blog: Meeting points

Museum Director Dr Silke Ackermann reflects on the Chardin project and what it means to be a meeting point for people, science, art and belief.

Read on

53637 Astrolabe, by Diya al-Din Muhammad, Lahore, 1658/9

Blog: The travels of an astrolabe: Persia to Afghanistan

Dr Sumner Braund follows the Shah Abbas II astrolabe over two centuries from its origins in the Safavid court of the mid-1600s to its extraction from Bala Hissar in Kabul.

Read on

Blog: The travels of an astrolabe: Kabul to Londonn

Dr Sumner Braund traces the Shah Abbas II astrolabe's journey from Kabul in the late 1800s to the salerooms of 1920s London.

Read on

37148 astrolabe with lunar mansions (back 01) 1800 x 840 px

Museum Guide: Spotlight Stories

Want to plan your visit?

Or just enjoy some of the stories our collections can tell?

Explore objects with a tale to tell, plus a short history of the 'Old Ashmolean' building — the world's oldest surviving purpose-built public museum building.

Discover objects with a tale to tell ...

multakaeventatmuseumofhistoryofsciencebyianwallman 1018

People: MultakaOxford

MultakaOxford brings the rich, diverse knowledge of people settling in Oxford — many through forced migration — to the History of Science Museum and Pitt Rivers Museum.

Collecting COVID Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert

Online gallery: Celebrating Women in Science

Discover inspiring stories of women who've led the way in scientific discovery

Vaccine Trials - In Science and Art with Fran Monks (Zoom portraits of vaccine trial volunteers)

Interview: Vaccine Trials in Science and Art

Portrait artist & photographer Fran Monks talked with our colleague Izzy Treyvaud to explore how photography can celebrate the extraordinary stories of 'ordinary' people.

Precious and Rare: Islamic Metalwork from The Courtauld. Cultures in Conversation

Online Gallery: Islamic Metalwork from the Courtauld

Take a look back at the stunning exhibition of islamic metalwork from The Courtauld.

Collecting COVID - Knitted dolls & viruses

Blog: Collecting COVID series

Collecting COVID curator Tina Eyre shares her experiences of working with the Bodleian Libraries to build a 'living history' collection from Oxford University's pandemic response.

“Sir Henry Acland & Mr. M. W. Haffkine” taken by Sarah Angelina Acland (digital positive from half-plate negative, 1899) Bodleian Library, Minn Collection Negative 202/9

Blog: Epidemic Encounters

Discover the story of Waldemar Haffkine, the "vaccine pioneer the world forgot", and his 35-year friendship with groundbreaking photographer Sarah Acland.

Video: The Zodiac - Science or Superstition?

Join Helen and Mathilde on Zoom to explore the Zodiac through some amazing Museum objects.

Online story: History of the Islamic World in 11 Maps

Discover a fascinating journey of scientific, artistic and cultural influence across 1400 years and four continents.

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Volunteering

A big thank you to all our volunteers who make our Museum welcoming, interesting and open to all.

Would you like to join them?

Join our community

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We can't do it without you!

Thanks to your generosity, we can keep highlighting ingenious stories that spark curiosity for as many people as possible.

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Inspiration in your Inbox

Stay in touch with the latest stories, events, learning resources and museum news

Welcome

We're a meeting point for people, science, art and belief

Celebrating the life of Professor Jim Bennett

What's On

Display: COVID: Stories from a Segregated Society

Display: Lyra's Worlds

Display: Making Waves - Marconi's Radio Revolution

Display & online story: Einstein's Blackboard

Discovery starts here

Collections Online

Stories our collections can tell

Science in the Islamic World

Blog: Meeting points

Blog: The travels of an astrolabe: Persia to Afghanistan

Blog: The travels of an astrolabe: Kabul to Londonn

Museum Guide: Spotlight Stories

People

People: MultakaOxford

Online gallery: Celebrating Women in Science

Art

Interview: Vaccine Trials in Science and Art

Online Gallery: Islamic Metalwork from the Courtauld

Science

Blog: Collecting COVID series

Blog: Epidemic Encounters

Belief

Video: The Zodiac - Science or Superstition?

Online story: History of the Islamic World in 11 Maps

Support your Museum

Volunteering

We can't do it without you!

Inspiration in your Inbox

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