Close up of many interlocking silver cogs inside a machine.
Departments

Science & Technology

Welcome to the Science and Technology department. We research, maintain and monitor one of the most important collections of scientific and technological material in Europe.

Our collections are open to researchers for examination, and we'd be happy to help you conduct research. Please contact our staff to enquire.

Contact list of staff members

Our collections

The Science and Technology collections are broad-based, ranging from scientific instruments made in the eleventh century to cutting-edge developments in renewable energy technologies. Some items are tiny, such as micro-electronic computing components; some are huge, including 73 aircraft. They are held at the National Museum of Rural Life and the National Museum of Flight as well as the National Museum of Scotland and National Museums Collection Centre.

These collections represent not only the development of scientific concepts and technical details but also the historical and cultural significance of science, medicine and technology, and their impact on people and the environment.

What we do

Science and Technology stories

  1. A large black locomotive from the 19th century on display against a brown background.
    Discover

    Wylam Dilly: One of the world's oldest locomotives

    Wylam Dilly is one of the world’s two oldest surviving locomotives. Built in 1813, it used to pull coal along the Wylam Wagonway to the river, near Newcastle upon Tyne.The Wylam Dilly steam locomotive is named after the Wylam Colliery,…
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  2. A colour photograph of a metal robotic machine against a black background. The machine is has a mounting brace at the top and a triangular central section which loosely resembles a face. The central section has two mechanical arms attached either side, bents ate the 'elbow', and with flat clasps resembling hands at the bottom of each. The 'hands' are touching in the centre, creating an inverted triangle with the arms.
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    Freddy the Robot: A 1970s glimpse into the future

    Developed in the 1970s at the University of Edinburgh, Freddy the Robot was the world’s first 'thinking robot' to combine a seeing eye and a feeling hand.   It was part of an important era in robotic development, and was amongst the first…
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  3. Discover

    Escape and Evade: how to avoid capture in the Second World War

    In 1939, a secret department of Military Intelligence (MI9) was formed. It employed the inventor Christopher Clayton Hutton and former magician Jasper Maskelyne. Their remit was to devise ingenious ways to smuggle maps, compasses, money…
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