Institute and Museum of the History of Science
Encyclopedia
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. It was founded in 1927 by the University of Florence
University of Florence
The University of Florence is a higher study institute in Florence, central Italy. One of the largest and oldest universities in the country, it consists of 12 faculties...
. The museum is located in the Piazza dei Giudici, by the River Arno and close to the Uffizi Gallery.
Among the more famous of its collections is the middle finger from the right hand of Galileo Galilei
Galileo Galilei
Galileo Galilei , was an Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher who played a major role in the Scientific Revolution. His achievements include improvements to the telescope and consequent astronomical observations and support for Copernicanism...
, which was removed when Galileo's remains were transported to a new burial spot on April 12, 1737.
The museum features many artefacts from the 15th to 19th century, mostly pioneering scientific instruments including world globes, stethoscopes, navigation instruments and telescopes with accompanying videos to the exhibits.