The ''Musée d'histoire des sciences de la Ville de Genève'' (Museum of the History of Science of the City of Geneva) is a small museum in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

dedicated to the

history of science The history of science covers the development of science from ancient history, ancient times to the present. It encompasses all three major branches of science: natural science, natural, social science, social, and formal science, formal. Pr ...

Location

The museum is located in the ''Villa Bartholoni'', designed by Félix-Emmanuel Callet, built in 1830 as a summer residence for Parisian bankers, Constant and Jean-François Bartholoni and extensively restored between 1985 and 1992. It is situated in the park ''La Perle du Lac'', overlooking

Lake Geneva Lake Geneva is a deep lake on the north side of the Alps, shared between Switzerland and France. It is one of the List of largest lakes of Europe, largest lakes in Western Europe and the largest on the course of the Rhône. Sixty percent () ...

, adjacent to the Conservatory and Botanical Garden of the City of Geneva. Both the Villa and the museum itself are listed in the

Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance #REDIRECT Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance {{R from other capitalisation ...

Access

The Museum is open daily from 10am to 5pm, except for 25 December and 1 January and admission is free. The museum receives over 250,000 visitors per year.

History

The museum was established in 1964 by the enthusiasm of ' (the Museum and review of the History of Science Association), following an exhibition of science history at the

Musée Rath The Musée Rath is an art museum in Geneva, used exclusively for temporary exhibitions. Its building is the oldest purpose-built art museum in Switzerland, and the original home of Musée d'Art et d'Histoire (Geneva), Geneva's Musée d'Art et d'H ...

. Once opened the Swiss Institute of Physics and Observatory donated their historic instruments to the collection. Early director, the astronomer Margarida Archinard, was succeeded by chemist, Marc Cramer. Jacques Ayer has been director since 2012. Initially affiliated to the Musée d'Art et d'Histoire, since 2006 the museum has been linked to the Natural History Museum of Geneva.

Collections and exhibits

The collections primarily comprise scientific measurement apparatus from the 17th-19th centuries including

microscope A microscope () is a laboratory equipment, laboratory instrument used to examine objects that are too small to be seen by the naked eye. Microscopy is the science of investigating small objects and structures using a microscope. Microscopic ...

telescope A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, Absorption (electromagnetic radiation), absorption, or Reflection (physics), reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally, it was an optical instrument using len ...

thermometer A thermometer is a device that measures temperature (the hotness or coldness of an object) or temperature gradient (the rates of change of temperature in space). A thermometer has two important elements: (1) a temperature sensor (e.g. the bulb ...

s, etc., principally the former equipment of Genevan scientists including Saussure, Pictet, de la Rive and Colladon. Displays include practical experiments within the building and some exhibits in the surrounding park.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Museums in Geneva

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

Cultural property of national significance in the canton of Geneva