Museo Galileo

The Museum

The Museo Galileo is one of the leading international institutions active in scientific museography, in the production of initiatives for the dissemination of scientific culture and in documentation and research activities in the field of the history of science and technology. Its extraordinary collections include ancient scientific instruments collected over some four centuries by the Medici and Lorraine families, including all of Galileo’s original instruments that have come down to us.

It has a rich specialised library and an archive that preserves precious funds for the history of science in general and for the history of science in Tuscany and Florence in particular. The website offers multiple resources for historical-scientific research, including a vast collection of digitised works. The Museum publishes specialised monographs and two internationally distributed journals: Nuncius and Galilæana. It participates in important research projects in collaboration with prestigious international institutions; it organises conferences and exhibitions on topics in the history of science and on the relationship between science, technology and art.

The Collections

The instrument collections of the Museo Galileo in Florence are among the most important in the world. These collections preserve eloquent testimony to the promotion of scientific research exercised, first, by members of the Medici dynasty, then, by the Lorraine Grand Dukes.