In the anniversary issue of the Science Museum Group Journal, published in autumn 2024, a contribution by Prof. Dr. Helmuth Trischler explores the differing roles that natural history museums and museums of science and technology play in the context of object-based knowledge production. While natural history museums have established themselves as key sites of scientific research since the late nineteenth century—built on the foundation of extensive collections—and today primarily position themselves as institutions of biodiversity research, museums of science and technology have struggled to assume a comparable role. Despite their potential for object-oriented research and knowledge dissemination, this potential often remains untapped or institutionally marginalized.
Article DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.15180/242204