Whipple Museum of the History of Science

Call Directions Website

Whipple Museum of the History of Science "A fabulous chocolate box cornucopia of a collection"

Open Monday to Friday, 1pm-5pm, & Saturday, 10am-5pm. Open selected Bank Holidays.

Discover a vast array of scientific instruments dating from the Middle Ages to the present day. From microscopes and telescopes to pocket calculators and slide rules, find out more about the tools that scientists have used to understand the world around us.

🕯️👁️ WEIRD WHIPPLE 🕯️👁️Wednesday 28 October | 6–9pm | FREE | Suitable for ages 16+Discover the stranger side of the hist...
08/10/2026

🕯️👁️ WEIRD WHIPPLE 🕯️👁️

Wednesday 28 October | 6–9pm | FREE | Suitable for ages 16+

Discover the stranger side of the history of science by candlelight. In honour of spooky season, we’re lighting the Museum’s historic galleries the old-fashioned way and taking a closer look at our most curious objects and unusual books...

🔍 What’s on?

🕯️ Curator Tours
What do spiritualists, Martians and a giant flayed hand have to do with the history of science? Join our Curator to uncover some of the Museum’s strangest stories.

🗝️ Behind-the-Scenes Tours
For one night only, our Collections Manager will unlock the Museum stores and reveal some of the curious objects hidden away from public view.

📖 The Book Nook with the Whipple Library
Venture into our Victorian Parlour, where the Whipple Library team will be sharing some of their most unusual books… if you dare.

🦇 Explore After Dark
Wander through the Museum’s galleries by candlelight and discover everything from a lightning house to a strange colony of fungi.

Planning your visit?

🎟️ Free, drop-in event, suitable for ages 16+

👻 Tours have limited capacity and will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Sign up at the welcome desk when you arrive.

🕯️Please note that the candles will be LED to avoid burning down the museum! But they will be spooky...

We look forward to welcoming you! 💀

📍 Whipple Museum, Free School Lane, Cambridge
🗓️ Monday–Friday: 1–5pm | Saturday: 10am–5pm

✨ Celebrate Black History Month this October at the Whipple Museum! ✨🔭 Black History of Science ToursVarious dates throu...
25/09/2026

✨ Celebrate Black History Month this October at the Whipple Museum! ✨

🔭 Black History of Science Tours
Various dates throughout October
All ages, free entry

Join us for our Black History of Science Tours, exploring the remarkable contributions of pioneering Black scientists and stories of medical breakthroughs, moon missions, advances in agriculture, and the art of teaching taxidermy.

🎟️ Book your free tickets via our website or use the link in our bio.

We look forward to welcoming you! 🔭✨

📍 Whipple Museum, Free School Lane
🗓️ Monday–Friday: 1–5pm | Saturday: 10am–5pm

Summer Bank Holiday closure & museum update 📢Please note that the Whipple Museum will be closed on Monday 31 August for ...
27/08/2026

Summer Bank Holiday closure & museum update 📢

Please note that the Whipple Museum will be closed on Monday 31 August for the Summer Bank Holiday. We apologise for any inconvenience.

🚨 Plus, our opening hours are changing!

From 1 September 2026, we’ll be open:

🕐 Monday–Friday, 1–5pm
🕙 Every Saturday, 10am–5pm

Whether you’re planning a family day out or visiting Cambridge for the weekend, our regular Saturday opening makes it even easier to discover the Whipple Museum.

We look forward to welcoming you soon!

✨ Plan your visit:
📍 Whipple Museum, Free School Lane, Cambridge
🗓️ New opening hours from 1 September 2026: Monday–Friday, 1–5pm, and every Saturday, 10am–5pm

Join us for Making Marks, a day celebrating pioneering women in science, with a special focus on physicist, inventor and...
26/08/2026

Join us for Making Marks, a day celebrating pioneering women in science, with a special focus on physicist, inventor and suffrage campaigner Hertha Ayrton. ⚡️🎵

Throughout the day, enjoy an illustrated talk by Dr Patricia Fara, family talks and hands-on activities exploring women in science, plus two live performances taken from The Cambridge First All-Ladies Fire Brigade – a new musical by composer Jenni Pinnock and writers Helen Arney and Brian Mackenwells, celebrating Ayrton and other remarkable scientists and mathematicians connected with Girton College.

Whether you’re interested in science, women’s history, musical theatre, or simply looking for a family day out, Making Marks offers a creative new way to discover the women who helped shape science.

📍 Saturday 12 September 2026, 10am–5pm
Whipple Museum of the History of Science
Free School Lane, Cambridge
Part of Open Cambridge Cambridge University Festivals
Supported by Arts Council England funding through University of Cambridge Museums

Programme:
11am – Women in Science: Family Talk
12 noon – Hertha Ayrton: Illustrated Talk with Dr Patricia Fara
1pm – Concert: The Cambridge First All-Ladies Fire Brigade
2pm – Women in Science: Family Talk
3pm – Concert: The Cambridge First All-Ladies Fire Brigade
4pm – Hertha Ayrton: Illustrated Talk with Dr Patricia Fara

Concert performances will feature:
Noa Shakhar as Hertha Ayrton, Felix Elliott on piano and Helen Arney as narrator. 🎵

Booking is not required, but performances and talks have limited capacity, so please arrive early to secure your place.

✨ Plan your visit:
📍 Whipple Museum, Free School Lane, Cambridge
Opening hours as of 01 September 2026:
🗓 Monday–Friday: 1–5pm, Saturday: 10am–5pm

🚨 Museum Closure – Friday 14 August 🚨Due to the forecast of hot weather, the Whipple Museum will be closed on Friday 14 ...
13/08/2026

🚨 Museum Closure – Friday 14 August 🚨

Due to the forecast of hot weather, the Whipple Museum will be closed on Friday 14 August as a safety precaution.

We’ll be open again on Saturday, 10am–5pm ⭐️

Thank you for your understanding, and we apologise for any inconvenience.

✨ Plan your visit:
📍 Whipple Museum, Free School Lane, Cambridge
🗓 Monday–Friday: 12.30–4.30pm
📅 Saturdays: 10am–5pm

Are you excited for tonight’s eclipse? ☀️🌑 More than 90% of the Sun will be covered by the Moon for most of the UK this ...
12/08/2026

Are you excited for tonight’s eclipse? ☀️🌑 More than 90% of the Sun will be covered by the Moon for most of the UK this evening.

Long before projectors, magic lanterns were used to illustrate astronomical phenomena. These slides were part of sets used in scientific lectures, with some designed to demonstrate solar and lunar eclipses through moving parts.

Pictured are slides 29 and 31, showing a solar eclipse mechanism and the band of zodiac constellations. ⭐️

Want to find out more about these slides and see the rest of the collection? Tap the link in our bio to browse our Collections Database and search Wh.4603.

✨ Plan your visit
📍 Whipple Museum, Free School Lane, Cambridge
🗓 Monday–Friday: 12.30–4.30pm
📅 Saturdays: 10am–5pm

🚨Museum Closure – Thursday 13 August 🚨Due to the forecast hot weather, the Whipple Museum will be closed on Thursday 13 ...
12/08/2026

🚨Museum Closure – Thursday 13 August 🚨

Due to the forecast hot weather, the Whipple Museum will be closed on Thursday 13 August as a safety precaution.

We’ll assess conditions and confirm whether we’ll be open on Friday 14 August. Please check our website and social media for the latest updates.

Thank you for your understanding, and we apologise for any inconvenience.

✨ Plan your visit:
📍 Whipple Museum, Free School Lane, Cambridge
🗓 Monday–Friday: 12.30–4.30pm
📅 Saturdays: 10am–5pm

Behind the scenes, our Collections Team have been busy working on a major collections move project, supported by our sum...
06/08/2026

Behind the scenes, our Collections Team have been busy working on a major collections move project, supported by our summer placement students Pamela, Alejandro and Berengar, alongside volunteers Tav and Sully. ⭐️

The team has been gaining hands-on experience in collections care, including auditing, repacking, accessioning, archival work, and carefully cataloguing and rehousing laboratory glassware in preparation for its move to our new collections store.

Featured in today’s post are objects from the Howard Glassware Collection. The collection comprises around 750 pieces of laboratory and chemistry glassware, dating mainly from the 1950s, and includes items made by a range of manufacturers, including Pyrex.

Some of the previous storage methods were quite inventive! The first image shows an old to***co tin that had been repurposed. Swipe to the end to see a before photo revealing how the glassware was originally stored.

Want to know more? Tap the link in our bio to browse our Collections Database and search Wh.5244. 🧪

We’ll be sharing more behind-the-scenes updates as the project continues throughout the summer.

✨ Plan your visit
📍 Whipple Museum, Free School Lane, Cambridge
🗓 Monday–Friday: 12.30–4.30pm
📅 Saturday: 10am–5pm

🌕 On this day in 1969, Apollo 11 landed the first humans on the Moon. 🌕The mission was crewed by Neil Armstrong, Michael...
20/07/2026

🌕 On this day in 1969, Apollo 11 landed the first humans on the Moon. 🌕

The mission was crewed by Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin.

One of the technologies that helped make the Moon landing possible was developed right here in Cambridge: Tom Bacon’s hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell electrode (Wh.6081).

So, what is a hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell?
It generates electricity by combining hydrogen and oxygen, with water as its only by-product. After decades of research, Tom Bacon developed a practical design in Cambridge during the late 1950s.

NASA adopted Bacon’s fuel cell technology for the Apollo programme because it used the same hydrogen and oxygen carried for propulsion while also providing electricity and drinking water for the astronauts.

President Richard Nixon later reportedly told Bacon: “Without you Tom, we wouldn’t have gotten to the Moon.” 🌒

You can see Bacon’s fuel cell on display in the Whipple Museum’s Learning Gallery.

🚀 Want to know more? Tap the link in our bio to browse our Collections Database and search Wh.6081.

Apollo 11 Hasselblad image from film magazine 40/S - EVA.

✨ Plan your visit:
📍 Free School Lane, Cambridge
🗓 Monday–Friday, 12:30–4:30pm
📅 Saturday, 10:00am–5:00pm

🔬☀️ Summer Science at the Whipple! ☀️🔬Join us this summer for free, hands-on family activities as part of Summer at the ...
13/07/2026

🔬☀️ Summer Science at the Whipple! ☀️🔬
Join us this summer for free, hands-on family activities as part of Summer at the Museums.
Each week, discover a different area of science inspired by fascinating objects from the Whipple Museum’s collections.

Weekly themes:
💡 Light
🎵 Sound
🌍 Earth & Space
🩺 History of Medicine
🧩 Modelling Science

For session dates and times, visit the link in our bio to find out more.

✨ Plan your visit:
📍 Whipple Museum, Free School Lane, Cambridge
🗓 Monday–Friday, 12:30–4:30pm
📅 Saturdays, 10:00am–5:00pm

We look forward to welcoming you this summer! University of Cambridge Museums

Address

Free School Lane
Cambridge
CB23RH

Opening Hours

Monday 12:30pm - 4:30pm
Tuesday 12:30pm - 4:30pm
Wednesday 12:30pm - 4:30pm
Thursday 12:30pm - 4:30pm
Friday 12:30pm - 4:30pm

Telephone

+441223330906

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Whipple Museum of the History of Science posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category