Home | History of Science Museum

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

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

Home page banners (Spherical Astrolabe, Einstein's Blackboard, Armillary Sphere, Collecting COVID)

Opening hours (free entry)

Open Tuesday-Sunday, 12-5 pm

Christmas & New Year Opening hours

Groups need to book in advance

LIFT OUT OF ACTION: apologies, we cannot offer disabled, level access to the Museum.

GALLERY CLOSURE: our Top Gallery is currently closed while we carry out essential maintenance work. Our Middle and Basement Galleries are open with histories and stories to share with you.

DATES FOR THE DIARY: our museum will be closing early at 4pm on Friday 8 November and closed all day on Thursday 21 November for a private event.

Display: About Time: One Passion. A World of Histories | From Sat 2 March 2024

Why did a businessman like Lewis Evans build one of the finest collections of timekeepers from Europe and the Islamic World? 

It started with a gift: a sundial, given to a 16-year-old Lewis by his eccentric father.  As he explored this ingenious instrument, Lewis discovered a world of histories: from the ancient science of time-telling to the bustling workshops of late 1600s Paris. 

Step into Lewis's study and discover how to hold time in your hand.

Take a look before you visit

Free online digital trail

Museum of Climate Hope at the History of Science Museum

Explore an innovative trail and digital learning experience for families and school groups across Oxford's gardens, libraries and museums.

Families (all ages)

Free online trail

Saturday 25 January, 12.00–4.00pm

How Does It Work (including Light & Space Backpacks)

Join us for an afternoon getting hands-on with our collections — find out how they work, and experience our amazing objects in action. And don't miss our Light & Space backpacks for families.

All welcome. Activities for adults and families (7+)

Sunday 26 January, 2.00–4.00pm

How Does It Work (including Light & Space Backpacks)

Join us for an afternoon getting hands-on with our collections — find out how they work, and experience our amazing objects in action. And don't miss our Light & Space backpacks for families.

All welcome. Activities for adults and families (7+)

Saturday 22 February, 12.00–4.00pm

How Does It Work (including Light & Space Backpacks)

Join us for an afternoon getting hands-on with our collections — find out how they work, and experience our amazing objects in action. And don't miss our Light & Space backpacks for families.

All welcome. Activities for adults and families (7+)

Sunday 23 February, 2.00–4.00pm

How Does It Work (including Light & Space Backpacks)

Join us for an afternoon getting hands-on with our collections — find out how they work, and experience our amazing objects in action. And don't miss our Light & Space backpacks for families.

All welcome. Activities for adults and families (7+)

Saturday 29 March, 12.00–4.00pm

How Does It Work (including Light & Space Backpacks)

Join us for an afternoon getting hands-on with our collections — find out how they work, and experience our amazing objects in action. And don't miss our Light & Space backpacks for families.

All welcome. Activities for adults and families (7+)

Sunday 30 March, 2.00–4.00pm

How Does It Work (including Light & Space Backpacks)

Join us for an afternoon getting hands-on with our collections — find out how they work, and experience our amazing objects in action. And don't miss our Light & Space backpacks for families.

All welcome. Activities for adults and families (7+)

Saturday 26 April, 12.00–4.00pm

How Does It Work (including Light & Space Backpacks)

Join us for an afternoon getting hands-on with our collections — find out how they work, and experience our amazing objects in action. And don't miss our Light & Space backpacks for families.

All welcome. Activities for adults and families (7+)

Sunday 27 April, 2.00–4.00pm

How Does It Work (including Light & Space Backpacks)

Join us for an afternoon getting hands-on with our collections — find out how they work, and experience our amazing objects in action. And don't miss our Light & Space backpacks for families.

All welcome. Activities for adults and families (7+)

Saturday 24 May, 12.00–4.00pm

How Does It Work (including Light & Space Backpacks)

Join us for an afternoon getting hands-on with our collections — find out how they work, and experience our amazing objects in action. And don't miss our Light & Space backpacks for families.

All welcome. Activities for adults and families (7+)

Sunday 25 May, 2.00–4.00pm

How Does It Work (including Light & Space Backpacks)

Join us for an afternoon getting hands-on with our collections — find out how they work, and experience our amazing objects in action. And don't miss our Light & Space backpacks for families.

All welcome. Activities for adults and families (7+)

Saturday 28 June, 12.00–4.00pm

How Does It Work (including Light & Space Backpacks)

Join us for an afternoon getting hands-on with our collections — find out how they work, and experience our amazing objects in action. And don't miss our Light & Space backpacks for families.

All welcome. Activities for adults and families (7+)

Display: A Healthy Future for All?

To save lives during the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists took innovative approaches to produce rigorously tested, clinical-grade vaccines and drugs at speed.

But how can these new techniques deliver wider healthcare benefits for all of us?

A Healthy Future for All? empowers you to discover the science for yourself, and explore some of the big questions around the future of healthcare.

Display: The Disease of Greed

What’s the difference between genuine, falsified or fake medicines — and how can we tell what’s real?

Come and investigate hoaxes, forgeries and fakes in the world of public health in Southeast Asia.

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 ...

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MultakaOxford

Winner of the 2024 Museum + Heritage Community Engagement Programme of the Year

Find out more

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

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 ...

Blog: Digitising the Babbage Archive

Find out about the Babbage Archive project. Enabled by support from the Clay Mathematics Institute and a UKRI grant, the Museum is conserving and digitising a precious archive of Babbage material.

Read on

Blog: Einstein in Oxford

Andrew Robinson, author of Einstein in Oxford (Bodleian, 2024), explores the story behind Einstein's blackboard and the enduring appeal of one of the world's most famous scientists.

Read on

37148 Astrolabe with Lunar Mansions, by Abd al-Karim, Jazira (Mesopotamia)?, 1227/8 CE Top of rete with partial 'Sultan' world in design

Blog: Making your mark: the Comtesse de Lespinasse’s Astrolabe

From powerful Sultans to a French countess, Dr Sumner Braund tracks down the owners of a rare Mesopotamian astrolabe, exploring the marks they left — and the price they paid.

Read on

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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.

African Families in the UK

People: My Place, My Science (African Families in the UK)

My Place, My Science supports young people of African and black Caribbean heritage to enjoy science and build cultural connections.

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.

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

Video: The Zodiac - Science or Superstition?

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

The Islamic World Today (Close-up)

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.

I want to support my Museum

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

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