Our collection

Spring has sprung, summer is heating up; insects and creepy crawlies are starting to buzz, wriggle, and flutter once again. Often these animals are treated as pests, yet bugs and insects play a very important role in our ecosystem. But more than that, many of these insects also have a long and important historical role in medical treatment and healthcare – a tradition that is continued in modern medicine. Here we explore some examples of these helpful bugs – all of which continue to be used by the NHS today!

This month a major Science Museum Group collection milestone has been reached: more than 150,000 objects now have an image attached in our online collection. Up from 5% in 2018, over a third of all objects in the collection are now visible online in a dramatic increase in accessibility. 

In 1977, the Science Museum Group acquired a large collection of decorative plastics from the London art dealer John Jesse. In this blog, Assistant Curator Laura Büllesbach explores the extraordinary story of his life and a colourful selection of objects ranging from lamps to ocean liner brooches.

For a second year, we are inviting poets to share work inspired by our collection for our Poetry Project.

Assistant Curator Katie McNab explores the many selfies in the Science Museum Group Collection which predate the very term ‘selfie’, and how the act of taking a ‘selfie’ is an important part of self-expression and is ultimately a social activity.

Grayson Perry is among the many artists who have responded to the threat of SARS-CoV-2. Roger Highfield, Science Director, tells the remarkable story behind his ceramic pot, which is about to go on display at the Science Museum.

Go behind the scenes with the Collection Review team as they study a group of cameras in the collection.

As part of the Science Museum Group’s COVID-19 Collecting Project we have acquired a portrait by Roxana Halls of Katie Tomkins, Mortuary and Post-Mortem Services Manager at West Herts Hospitals NHS Trust, created as part of the Portraits for NHS Heroes project in response to the pandemic.

Assistant Curator Kerry Grist charts how it became possible to record sound, how we can listen to music performed a century ago and picks some of her favourite recordings that have been preserved in the Science Museum Group Collection.

Former curator Liz Bruton explores how bicycles in the Science Museum Group Collection were ordinary, radical and sustainable.