Material culture in the history of science: case studies from the National Maritime Museum

The three papers that follow are the result of a scheme set up by the National Maritime Museum (NMM) to encourage new research on its collections, and are presented as examples of how museum collections can open up new areas of academic research. They are also models of the kinds of work the NMM will further encourage in the future. As a significant location in the history of science, in particular through the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, which forms a key part of the NMM complex, and as a museum with rich holdings relating to the history of science, technology and medicine, the NMM has long fostered successful research and publication in these areas. Yet the museum does not necessarily feature high on researchers’ lists of key sources of relevant and interesting material, despite housing a collection of nearly two and a half million items, including internationally important holdings of astronomical, navigational, horological and other scientific equipment, as well as cartographic material, manuscripts, ship models and plans, and prints, drawings and paintings on a wide range of subjects.