Objects and stories

What you see in our galleries is just the beginning. The National Science and Media Museum is home to more than 3 million items of historical and cultural significance.

Our collection is devoted to the science and culture of image and sound. It includes three pivotal firsts: the world’s earliest known surviving negative, the earliest television footage, and the camera that made the earliest moving pictures in Britain.

In this section you can explore highlights of our collection and find ways to discover more about the objects we look after.

Collection highlights

‘Cassiopea’, photographic portrait taken by Julia Margaret Cameron, 1866 Science Museum Group Collection

Televisor, black-and-white television made by Baird International Television Ltd, London, 1932 Science Museum Group Collection

Quarter-plate ‘Cameo’ camera used to take second phase of Cottingley Fairies photographs, 1918–20 Science Museum Group Collection

‘Windows from Inside South Gallery, Lacock Abbey’, earliest surviving photographic negative, made by William Henry Fox Talbot, 1835 Science Museum Group Collection

Javanese shadow puppet Science Museum Group Collection

BBC Marconi AXBT ribbon microphone, 1944–59 Science Museum Group Collection

Cyanotype of Lastrea cristata, made by Anna Atkins, 1853 Science Museum Group Collection

‘Stookie Bill’, ventriloquist’s dummy head used by John Logie Baird in his experimental television work, c.1926 Science Museum Group Collection

The photographic library of the 'Daily Herald' newspaper, 1911-1965 Science Museum Group Collection

Technicolor cine camera Science Museum Group Collection

The Moon (lantern slide) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Nintendo Game Boy, model DMG-01 (games console)

Le Prince Single-lens Cine Camera (cine camera; cinematograph) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Philco Predicta tabletop television receiver (television receiver) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Three people with two spirits (photograph) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Lee and Turner Three-Colour Projector (38 mm Lee and Turner colour ciné film projector) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Magnavox Odyssey Video Games Console (games console) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Replica of Camera used by W H Fox Talbot (replica camera) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Programme for the Kinemacolor Season at the Holborn Empire (programme) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Pye Mark III television camera head (television camera) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Explore... photography

Jack of Diamonds playing card hit by a .30 calibre bullet, 1970, Dr Harold (Eugene) Edgerton, © Massachusetts Institute of Technology, National Science and Media Museum

The history of photography in pictures

Explore the history of photography, from 1835 to today, through key images from our collection.

The time-travelling camera: A short history of digital photo manipulation

The 21st century has seen a boom in digital photo manipulation. Explore the early days of this technology and find out how image manipulation became commonplace.

The first digital photos, from Victorian technology to the internet

Read about the first experiments in digital image technology—which took place longer ago than you might think.

Explore... film and cinematography

Single 35mm frame from Rough Sea at Dover

Robert Paul and the race to invent cinema

Discover the story of Robert Paul, the forgotten pioneer whose innovations earned him the title of ‘father of the British film industry’.

A very short history of cinema

Learn about the history and development of cinema, from the Kinetoscope in 1891 to today’s 3D revival.

Explore... television and radio

Telecast of Astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin by the Lunar Module

From the Moon to your living room: the Apollo 11 broadcast

Discover the story behind one of the biggest television events in history: the Moon landing.

Opportunity Knocks? Trust, technology and television

From 1950s clapometers to televised lottery draws, TV entertainment is built on technology that audiences have to trust—but how does it work?

A short history of British TV advertising

Find out how television and commercials have influenced each other over 65 years of TV advertising in the UK.

Explore... internet and gaming

A short history of the internet

Read about the history of the internet, from its 1950s origins to the World Wide Web’s explosion in popularity in the late 1990s and the ‘dotcom bubble’.

A short history of videogames

From Nim to the Nintendo 3DS, take a whistle-stop tour through 60 years of games.

More ways to explore our collection

Research the collection

Whether your research is academic, professional or personal, everyone is welcome to make an appointment to visit Insight, our research centre.

Science Museum Group Journal

Read academic papers about science, its history, material culture, communication and presentation in museums.

Objects and stories

Collection highlights

Explore... photography

The history of photography in pictures

The time-travelling camera: A short history of digital photo manipulation

The first digital photos, from Victorian technology to the internet

Explore... film and cinematography

Robert Paul and the race to invent cinema

A very short history of cinema

Explore... television and radio

From the Moon to your living room: the Apollo 11 broadcast

Opportunity Knocks? Trust, technology and television

A short history of British TV advertising

Explore... internet and gaming

A short history of the internet

A short history of videogames

Discover our collection online

Photographic technology

Photographs

Television

Radio communication

Cinema technology

Lantern slides

Computing

Games consoles

More ways to explore our collection

Research the collection

Science Museum Group Journal

Part of the Science Museum Group