Editing Science museum (section)

==History==
As early as the [[Renaissance]] period, [[Aristocracy|aristocrats]] collected curiosities for display. Universities, and in particular [[medical schools]], also maintained study collections of specimens for their students. Scientists and collectors displayed their finds in private [[Cabinet of curiosities|cabinets of curiosities]]. Such collections were the predecessors of modern natural history museums.

In 1683, the first purpose-built museum covering [[natural philosophy]], the [[Museum of the History of Science, Oxford|original Ashmolean museum]] (now called the Museum of the History of Science) in [[Oxford, UK|Oxford]], England, was opened, although its scope was mixed.{{clarify|date=November 2023}}{{R|MHS}}

This was followed in 1752 by the first dedicated science museum, the [[Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales|Museo de Ciencias Naturales]], in [[Madrid]], which almost did not survive [[Francoist Spain]]. Today, the museum works closely with the [[Spanish National Research Council]] (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas).{{R|EMdCM}}

The Utrecht University Museum, established in 1836, and the Netherlands' foremost research museum, displays an extensive collection of 18th-century animal and human "rarities" in its original setting.{{R|Utrecht}}

More science museums developed during the [[Industrial Revolution]], when great national exhibitions showcased the triumphs of both science and industry. An example is the [[Great Exhibition]] in 1851 at [[The Crystal Palace]], London, England, surplus items from which contributed to the [[Science Museum, London]], founded in 1857.

In the United States of America, various natural history Societies established collections in the early 19th century. These later evolved into museums. A notable example is the New England Museum of Natural History (now the [[Museum of Science, Boston|Museum of Science]]) which opened in [[Boston]] in 1864. Another was the [[Academy of Science, St. Louis]], founded in 1856, the first scientific organisation west of the Mississippi. (Although the organisation managed scientific collections for several decades, a formal museum was not created until the mid-20th century.)