What is the secret behind the way we write numbers?
When did scientists first discover how we see?
Who drew the oldest surviving map showing America?
What is the hidden meaning of the Elephant Clock?

The Science Museum hosts its latest exhibition, 1001 Inventions: Discover the Muslim Heritage in Our World, which traces the forgotten story of a thousand years of science from the Muslim world, from the 7th century onwards. The free exhibition, which runs from the 21 January to 30th June 2010, looks at the social, scientific and technological achievements that are credited to the Muslim world, whilst celebrating the shared scientific heritage of other cultures. The exhibition is a British based project, produced in association with the Jameel Foundation.

Featuring a diverse range of exhibits, interactive displays and dramatisation, the exhibition shows how many modern inventions, spanning fields such as engineering, medicine and design, can trace their roots back to Muslim civilisation.

Click here to visit the Science Museum's website

Click here to read a report on the exhibition launch

Uncovering 1000 years of science and technology

This interactive exhibition is packed with discoveries and inventions made in Muslim civilisation for a thousand years. With automatic machines and medical marvels, astronomical observations and inspiring architecture, find out about a period of history you might never have explored before.

Muslim civilisation stretched from southern Spain as far as China. For a thousand years from the 7th century onwards, scholars of many faiths built on the ancient knowledge of the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, making breakthroughs that helped pave the way for the Renaissance. The discoveries made by men and women in Muslim civilisation have left their mark on the way we live now.

The exhibition includes over 60 interactive, sensory and static exhibits. Explore the seven different zones to discover these: home, school, market, hospital, town, world and universe:

Home: The thousand-year-old inventions that still shape everyday life
Market: How influential ideas spread through travel and trade
School: Learning, libraries and their links with the past
Hospital: How ancient approaches to health have influenced today’s medicine
Town: Why East and West share so much architectural heritage
World: The explorers of a thousand years ago
Universe: How ancient astronomers expanded our view of the universe

FILM ► What is 1001 Inventions?

► Click above to watch the Introduction Film or click here to download (63.2mb)

More Information

► About Us - 1001 Inventions

► Latest News

► Contact Us