Science Museum Group facts for kids

Science Museum Group logo

The Science Museum Group (SMG) is a collection of five fantastic museums in the United Kingdom. These museums are all about science, technology, and history. They collect and display amazing objects that show how much humans have discovered and invented over time.

The museums in the group are:

• The Science Museum in South Kensington, London.
• The Science and Industry Museum in Manchester.
• The National Railway Museum in York.
• The Locomotion Museum in County Durham.
• The Science and Media Museum in Bradford.

Many items from the SMG collection that are not currently on display are kept safe at the National Collections Centre in Swindon, Wiltshire.

How the Science Museum Group Started

The idea for the Science Museum Group began with the Great Exhibition of 1851. This big international event led to the creation of the South Kensington Museum in 1857.

Before April 1, 2012, the group was known as the National Museum of Science and Industry (NMSI). The name "National Museum of Science and Industry" was used as a subtitle for the Science Museum since the early 1920s.

The National Science and Media Museum was started by the Science Museum in 1983. The Science Museum was run by the UK Government until 1984. That's when a special group of people, called the Board of Trustees, was set up. At this point, NMSI became the official name for the whole organization.

Over the years, more museums joined the group. In January 2012, the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester became part of the Science Museum Group. Then, in 2017, Locomotion, The National Railway Museum at Shildon, also joined the group.

Exploring Climate Change

The Science Museum, London opened a special gallery called 'Atmosphere' in 2010. This gallery is all about climate science. By April 2021, over 5 million people had visited it.

In 2021, the Science Museum, London also had a temporary exhibition called 'Our Future Planet'. This exhibition looked at the science of capturing carbon from the air.

Throughout 2021, the SMG hosted 'Climate Talks'. These were online discussions and events that explored problems caused by climate change. The Science Museum Group is working hard to reduce its own carbon emissions. They want to be completely carbon neutral by 2033. This means they aim to have no net impact on the climate from their operations.

Amazing Collections

The Science Museum Group has a huge and fascinating collection of items. Some of the cool things you can find include:

• Alan Turing's Pilot ACE computer.
• The famous train Flying Scotsman.
• Charles Babbage's drawings and models of early computers.
• Dorothy Hodgkin's model of penicillin.
• Tim Peake's Soyuz TMA-19M spaceship.
• Helen Sharman's space suit.
• Winifred Penn-Gaskell's collection of stamp cards.
• Richard Arkwright's water frame spinning machine.

You can even see over 380,000 items from the Science Museum Group's collections online! Just visit their "Search Our Collection" web page.

Leaders of the Group

The chairman of the Science Museum Group is Sir Tim Laurence. He was appointed by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on January 1, 2024. He took over from Dame Mary Archer, who had been chairman since 2015.

Many talented people have been directors of the Science Museum Group over the years. Some of them include:

• Dame Margaret Weston (1973–1986)
• Sir Neil Cossons (1986–2000)
• Dr Lindsay Sharp (2000–2005)
• Prof. Martin Earwicker (2006–2007)
• Ian Blatchford (2010–present)