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natural history museum

# Episode Title Description People Date
1 Episode 5 – Babylon: Natural Theology versus Scientific Naturalism When Museum opened in 1860, a new secular approach to science was on the rise. In the final episode of Temple of Science we see how ‘natural theology’ responded to the challenges of Charles Darwin’s theories of evolution and natural selection. John Holmes 01 Oct 2020
2 Episode 4 – Chambers of the Ministering Priests: Building Scientific Disciplines The Museum was founded on the principle that art should be used to teach science and to inspire generations of scientists. In episode 4 of Temple of Science we see how this was put into practice in some of the building’s less familiar spaces. John Holmes 01 Oct 2020
3 Episode 3 – The Sanctuary of the Temple of Science: The Central Court The central court of the Museum was described by one founder as ‘the sanctuary of the Temple of Science’. In this episode we see how every detail of this unique space was carefully planned and crafted to form a comprehensive model of natural science. John Holmes 01 Oct 2020
4 Episode 2 – 'God’s Own Museum': The Façade In episode 2 of Temple of Science, we take a closer look at the decoration on the outside of the Museum building, which captures the vitality of nature, presented in Victorian Oxford as the study of God’s creation. John Holmes 01 Oct 2020
5 Episode 1 – Oxford's Pre-Raphaelite Natural History Museum In the first episode of Temple of Science we find out how the Museum came to be, involving not only scientists but artists, architects and designers in one of the most original creative collaborations of the Victorian age. John Holmes 29 Sep 2020
6 Leviathan and the Air Pump: Thirty Years On The historian of science David Wootton reviews the controversial dispute between Robert Boyle and Thomas Hobbes, followed by a reply from Boyle's biographer Michael Hunter Ritchie Robertson, David Wootton, Michael Hunter 12 May 2015
7 Goldilocks and the origin of animals - insights from the far north The Cambrian Explosion is one of the most spectacular episodes in Earth history, with the first traces of animals appearing in the fossil record at around 550 million years, and most modern major groups (phyla and classes) present by 510 Ma. Paul Smith 10 Dec 2012