Explore the history of innovation in Scotland and across the world through interactive games and thought-provoking displays.
Reopening update
We've made some changes to make visiting the museum safe and enjoyable for our visitors and our staff. As we begin to welcome visitors back to the museum, the reopening of galleries will be phased.
Our family-friendly Explore gallery on Level 1 brings science to life with hands-on games and interactive exhibits. You can even try out your own genetic experiments – fancy making a glowing pig?
Next to Explore is Making It, which looks at how manufacturing and engineering have changed our lives, from early industry to 3D printing. And don't forget to look up to see an aerial history of aviation stunningly suspended from the ceiling, including Percy Pilcher's record breaking Hawk glider.
Aircraft in the In Flight display. Pilcher's Hawk can be seen at the top.
On Level 3, Communicate tells the story of telecommunications, from semaphore to smart phones. Will you spot your first mobile phone in a case? Scientific innovation and invention are celebrated in Technology by Design: discover the evolution of the bicycle and design your own bike, marvel at an Apple 1 computer from 1976 and discover Edinburgh's key role in the history of prosthetics.
Moving up to Level 5, Enquire explores how scientists have sought to answer fundamental questions. Follow in the steps of pioneers such as Sir James Black by designing a clinical drug trial, and encounter a giant copper accelerating cavity from CERN’s LEP collider. After all, who doesn’t like a dash of drama with their science history?
This strange-looking device was the first model of telephone to go on sale. But can its creator, Alexander Graham Bell, truly lay claim to the title ‘inventor of the telephone’?
This copper radio frequency accelerating cavity played a part in scientific history when it was used in the Large Electron Positron (LEP) collider at CERN from 1989 to 1995.
Discover a fascinating clock that kept time in a whole new way and find out how our assistant conservator of technology has strived to keep it accurate.
These simple-looking glasses hold a secret power: they allow people with red-green colour blindness to experience colours which they would normally be unable to see.
This Enigma machine is of the type used by the German Navy on submarines to encode messages during World War II. Discover the secrets of this famous code maker here.
The phrase 'painting the Forth Bridge' has become synonymous with a never-ending task. Discover how this humble paint mixer played its part in the maintenance of one of Scotland's most iconic structures.
Find out about Freddy the robot developed in the 1970s at the University of Edinburgh and explore how robot technology has changed from early automota to assisting surgery and exploring Mars.
The BAE Systems Hawk is a British single-engine, jet-powered advanced trainer aircraft. A stunning pair of Hawk wings with the iconic RAF Red Arrows livery are on display in the new Explore gallery at the National Museum of Scotland.
This handloom was used for weaving silk at Stonehouse in Lanarkshire in the 19th century. It has a Jacquard attachment which allows complex patterns to be woven.
The ancestor of the microscope, as we know it today, was first described in 1625. Still, it took another 250 years until the microscope was fully accepted as a scientific instrument.
