Watercolor from The Story of Ramie from Seed to Finished Garment, volume three of five brocade-bound sets of paintings showing the process of producing Ramie cloth in China, 1820s. 📷 Science History Institute

Detail of the official proclamation for Science History Day. 📷 Science History Institute

Mayor James F. Kenney has declared Saturday, June 10, 2023, “Science History Day” in Philadelphia and invites the public to attend the Institute’s first annual Curious Histories Fest. This free, family-friendly event celebrates the science and history of H2O with the theme “A Taste of Water.” Discover how water can affect the taste of food and beverages by sampling pizza, iced tea, oysters, bagels, and beer. Attendees can also enjoy hands-on crafts, engaging talks, highlights from our collections, special guests, live music, and so much more.

Nation of Inventors: How the Patent System Fueled American Innovation

The Science History Institute has teamed up with online learning platform Roundtable to offer you compelling courses from the history of science. Institute president and CEO David Cole kicks off this new partnership with a deep dive into the history of innovation in the United States. Nation of Inventors is a three-part online course that illuminates the lives of both famous and unsung inventors from the colonial period to the early 20th century. Join Cole live for the final session: A Golden Age for Invention: 1865–1920. Cost for all three sessions: $60.

View from the 38th Street Bridge in Philadelphia. 📷 Jacob Rivkin

This First Friday, join us for an “animated” evening of short films exploring the history, futures, and natural wonders of Philadelphia’s waterways, featuring the work of artist Jacob Rivkin and the Philadelphia Animation Ensemble. First Fridays are free and open to the public. Attendees will receive a 10% discount to National Mechanics restaurant.

Science & Activism Tour

From Rachel Carson to ACT UP, our “drop-in” Science & Activism Tour explores how scientists and activists have shaped discovery and created change with stories of environmental justice, patients’ rights, and community science. Admission is free and no reservations are necessary.

Detail of Read How to Get Soft Water Right Out of Your Faucet!, advertisement for Dow Chemical Company, 1953. 📷 Science History Institute

Curious Histories Fest: A Taste of Water

Curious Histories Fest is an annual celebration of science, history, exploration, and experimentation. This year’s festival invites you to A Taste of Water, a daylong celebration of the water in your world. Join us for family-friendly activities, hands-on crafts, engaging talks, yummy tastings, highlights from our special collections, food trucks, special guests, live music, and so much more. Curious Histories Fest is open to all ages. Admission and programs are free; beer and food trucks are pay-as-you-go. No reservations necessary.

Women in Chemistry Tour

Join our museum’s Gallery Guides for a “drop-in” Women in Chemistry Tour highlighting the central role of women in shaping chemistry and the material sciences throughout history. Admission is free and no reservations are necessary.

A Conversation with ‘Mill Town’ Author Kerri Arsenault

Join Kerri Arsenault, author of Mill Town: Reckoning with What Remains, for a free Fellow in Focus lecture on the joy, challenge, and urgency of writing about our environments. Arsenault will be conducting archival research at the Science History Institute this summer as a Beckman Center Ullyot Scholar.

Sangeeta Bhatia speaks at the 2019 Othmer Gold Medal presentation. 📷 Science History Institute/Conrad Erb

Copper Smelting in Japan, finely illustrated Japanese scroll on paper depicting the Nanban-Buki method of separating copper from silver, after 1830–before 1870. 📷 Science History Institute

Our digital collections house more than 13,000 curated items, including a number of materials related to Asian and Pacific Islanders in science:

📷 Courtesy of Nancy Chang

Born in Taiwan in 1950, Nancy Chang made the long trip to the United States to study at Brown University and then Harvard. She became one of the world’s most successful biotechnology entrepreneurs as cofounder of Tanox (now part of Genentech), a company that sought remedies for asthma and allergies through genetic engineering. Chang was the first woman to receive the Institute’s Biotechnology Heritage Award (2012) and is featured in our Women in Chemistry video series.

The first electrospray ionization mass spectrometer, on display in our permanent exhibition, was developed in the 1980s by Nobel laureate John B. Fenn and his lab team, which included Japanese scientist Masamichi Yamashita. 📷 Science History Institute/Emma Getholf

Our museum is open Wednesday–Saturday, 10am–5pm. Admission is free.

Our museum is free to visitors because of donors like you. 📷 Science History Institute