Aircraft hanging from the ceiling of a multi-storey museum gallery.
Explore the galleries

Science and Technology galleries

Explore the history of innovation in Scotland and across the world.

Communications, transport, industry, engineering, energy and medicine: how have scientific and technological inventions changed our lives? Find the answers in our Science and Technology galleries!

With 6 galleries spread over 3 levels, explore scientific ideas and discoveries through interactive games and thought-provoking displays.

Galleries to visit

Three adults turning pedals as part of an interactive display in a multi-storey museum gallery.

Explore

Location: Level 1

Our family-friendly Explore gallery brings science to life with hands-on games and interactive exhibits. You can even try out your own genetic experiments – fancy making a glowing pig?

Young children interacting with different displays of technology in a museum gallery.

Making It

Location: Level 1

Making It looks at how manufacturing and engineering have changed our lives, from early industry to 3D printing. Don't forget to look up to see an aerial history of aviation stunningly suspended from the ceiling, including Percy Pilcher's record breaking Hawk glider.

Rows of telephones and mobile phones from different eras.

Communicate

Location: Level 3

Communicate tells the story of telecommunications, from semaphore to smart phones. Will you spot your first mobile phone in a case?

Man looking at a model ship in a glass cabinet at National Museum of Scotland.

Technology by Design

Location: Level 3

Scientific innovation and invention are celebrated in Technology by Design. Discover the evolution of the bicycle and design your own bike, marvel at an Apple 1 computer from 1976 and discover Edinburgh's key role in the history of prosthetics.

Two children run around a lighted pillar in a museum gallery, stepping on different coloured lights on the floor.

Energise

Location: Level 5

The Energy Tower in our Energise gallery offers you a workout! See if you can generate enough energy to light up the whole tower – and burn some calories too.

A large spherical copper cavity on display in a museum gallery.

Enquire

Location: Level 5

Enquire explores how scientists have sought to answer fundamental questions. Follow in the steps of pioneers such as Sir James Black by designing a clinical drug trial, and encounter a giant copper accelerating cavity from CERN’s LEP collider. After all, who doesn’t like a dash of drama with their science history?

Object highlights

Stories from the galleries

  1. An astronaut in an astronaut suit stands in a studio holding a camera on a tripod.
    Discover

    Broadcasting from the Moon: the first lunar camera

    Apollo 11 was the first manned mission to land on the Moon on 20 July 1969. NASA used technology first developed in 1928 by the Scottish innovator John Logie Baird to develop a small, robust television camera that enabled the live…
    Keep reading
  2. A man cycling a bicycle with his back low, looking forward. There are green fields in the background
    Discover

    Graeme Obree: Breaking records on a homemade bicycle

    Professional cycling is a serious (and costly) business. So how did a homemade bicycle, fashioned from scrap metal, come to break the World Hour Record in 1993?
    Keep reading
  3. A black and white image of a woman in Victorian dress with half of the image in a white negative. The photograph has a gold border and wooden frame.
    Discover

    Inventors of photography: Exploring Victorian photographic techniques

    Discover how Victorian inventors and entrepreneurs succeeded in capturing the very first images.
    Keep reading
  4. A cream telephone, with a receiver on one side and a keyboard on the other. A small screen sits above the keyboard.
    Discover

    10 stories of disability history in the collections

    Disability History Month begins in November each year. But all year round we care for and interpret objects connected to the lives and experiences of D/deaf, disabled and neurodivergent people, past and present. This list highlights…
    Keep reading
Browse all stories

Gallery accessibility

Getting to the galleries

Lifts and escalators

Lifts are available to all floors of the museum. You can check the museum map or ask a member of the Visitor Experience team for the nearest lifts. Information on lift dimensions is available on the AccessAble website.   

In the galleries

Seating

There are limited seating options in the Science and Technology galleries. Please ask a member of staff for directions to the nearest seats to you. 

Lighting and noise

The lighting levels are moderate in all of the Science and Technology galleries. The levels are the brightest on Level 5 in the Enquire gallery. 

The Science and Technology galleries can be busy at certain times of the day, so can be noisy. 

You can check our sensory map to explore all the different sensory experiences in different parts of the museum.

Large print guides

Large print guides can be found in every gallery of the museum. Please remember to return them after use so that other visitors can use them. 

Facilities

Toilets

Accessible toilets are available on Levels 0 and 3, as well as a Changing Places (U) toilet in the Entrance Hall on Level 0.  You can access the museum map to find those nearest to you. 

Cloakroom and storage

Self-service lockers are located in the Entrance Hall. The lockers come in three sizes which accommodate coats and small bags right up to small flight cases. 

There is buggy storage available in the museum. It is located on Level 1 of the Scotland galleries, behind the Kingdom of the Scots gallery.

Quiet spaces

If at any time you or someone you are visiting with finds the visit overwhelming, a member of staff can direct you to quieter areas in the museum. The sensory map also identifies the quieter spaces.

For full access information for the National Museum of Scotland buildings, find out more on our accessibility page. 

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