Science museum

A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, industry and industrial machinery, etc. Modern trends in museology have broadened the range of subject matter and introduced many interactive exhibits. Modern science museums, increasingly referred to as 'science centres' or 'discovery centres', also feature technology. While the mission statements of science centres and modern museums may vary, they are commonly places that make science accessible and encourage the excitement of discovery. As early as the Renaissance period, aristocrats collected curiosities for display to their families. Universities and in particular, medical schools also maintained study collections of specimens for their students. Scientists and collectors displayed their finds in private cabinets of curiosities. Such collections were the predecessors of modern natural history museums. In 1683, the first purpose-built museum covering natural philosophy, the original Ashmolean museum (now called the Museum of the History of Science) in Oxford, England, was opened, although its scope was mixed. This was followed in 1752, by the first dedicated science museum, the Museo de Ciencias Naturales, in Madrid, which almost didn't survive Francoist Spain. Today, the museum works closely with the Spanish National Research Council (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas). The Utrecht University Museum, established in 1836, and the Netherlands' foremost research museum, is another example of a museum that displays an extensive collection of 18th-century animal and human "rarities" in its original setting. Another branch in the genealogy of science museums developed during the Industrial Revolution. when great national exhibitions showcased the triumphs of both science and industry. An example is the 1851 Great Exhibition at The Crystal Palace, London, England, surplus items from which contributed to the Science Museum, London, founded in 1857.