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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

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 ...

Event: International Day of Women and Girls in Science

Join us for an afternoon celebrating women and girls in science.

Meet women working in science research today, get hands-on with stars and spectroscopes, and inspire the next generation.

Enjoy family time

Einstein and an annotated equation from his Blackboard

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 ...

Collecting COVID - Knitted dolls & viruses

Display: What If You Were Asked to Save the World?

What was it like to be a vaccine scientist during the pandemic?

They had to create and test the vaccine from scratch — and make enough for the whole world.

And like all of us, they were living in difficult times and under intense emotional strain.

Go behind the scenes with the scientists who made the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine to discover life on the pandemic's front line.

Take a look before you visit

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

Online stories: Between Earth & Air - The Marconi Collection

Between Earth & Air by artist Hermeet Gill tells hidden stories behind ten iconic objects from the Marconi Collection, framed by wave images visualising the development of radio from Marconi to the present day.

Discover Marconi stories

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.

Blog: My favourite object: an Islamic astrolabe

Our colleague Rana Ibrahim from the Gallery team tells us about her favourite object, an astrolabe engraved with a Quranic verse.

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.

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.

Fancy a souvenir of your visit?

From astrolabes and activity packs to eco-friendly mugs and periodic table goodies — drop by our Museum Shop.

Browse in the Shop

Periodic Table Collection

From books and mugs to tea towels and tags.

Take a look

Own your own Astrolabe

Hold the universe in your hand — and discover how our ancestor used astrolabes to answer the big human question: where are we in time and space?

Browse in the Shop

Time Turner?

Capture time at your fingertips ... this elegant dial was the brain-child of the same man who invented the slide rule and popularised using the ‘x’ symbol for multiplication.

Take a look