The Ashmolean Museum, which is now the History of Science Museum, was founded in 1683 as an entirely new institution.
It was more than simply an exhibition of things when it was built to hold Elias Ashmole’s collection. In the late 1600s, it became the epicentre of Oxford science, with classrooms in the entry gallery and a chemical laboratory and anatomical theatre in the basement.
In the same structure, the History of Science Museum was created in 1924. It was designed to be a safe haven, similar to Noah’s Ark, for things that were in danger of being destroyed. The new Museum was conceived by Robert Gunther and Lewis Evans in collaboration. Evans gave the institution his collection of antique scientific instruments in 1924. Gunther lobbied for them to be shown at the Old Ashmolean, as it was then known.
The nucleus around which the Museum evolved was Lewis Evans’ collection. Following that, Oxford colleges and departments, as well as notable benefactors such as J A Billmeir (1957), C F C Beeson (1966), the Royal Microscopical Society (1968), and the Marconi Corporation, made subsequent acquisitions (2004). The Museum today has an unparalleled collection of early astronomical and mathematical equipment from Europe and the Islamic world, as well as an extraordinary collection of microscopes. Manuscripts and early printed works, early photos, portraits of scientists, and scientific prints round up the collection.
The Lewis Evans Collection was the initial name of the museum. In 1935, the name was changed to the Museum of the History of Science to reflect the incorporation of additional material from various sources. The Museum was renamed the History of Science Museum in 2018.
