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Stories from the History of Science Museum, University of Oxford

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Making science the hero

10 February 2022 by Andrea Ruddock Leave a Comment

Celebrating International Women and Girls in Science

Tina Eyre, Curator of the Collecting Covid Project at the History of Science Museum, shares contributions from women and girls to the Covid-19 pandemic response


Every year on 11 February we celebrate International Women and Girls in Science Day.

The United Nations (UN) launched it in 2015 because — despite progress — women and girls are significantly underrepresented in science.

The UN sees full participation in science as an important step towards complete gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. 

Meeting successful women in science

I’m proud to be the Curator on a project which every day reveals that empowerment in action.

I started work as Curator of the Collecting Covid Project in November 2021.

Since then, I’ve met many strong successful women with ambitions in the field of science.

They include internationally recognised names like Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert — and young girls sending thank you letters to the vaccine team. 

One of a huge number of thank you letters and cards received by the Jenner Institute from members of the public, congratulating them on the Oxford Astrazeneca SARS-CoV-1 Vaccine
One of a huge number of thank-you letters and cards received by the Jenner Institute from members of the public, congratulating them on the Oxford AstraZeneca SARS-CoV-1 Vaccine

What is Collecting Covid?

Collecting Covid is a joint project between the History of Science Museum and the Bodleian Libraries to capture Oxford University’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Both institutions also have long-standing collections featuring notable women scientists, including Dorothy Hodgkin and Louise Johnson.  

Professor Sarah Gilbert & the Covid-19 vaccine team

Professor Sarah Gilbert recently donated the first part of her archives to the project.

Made a Dame for services to medicine and public health, Sarah is the leader of the Oxford ChadOx1 Covid-19 vaccine team at the Jenner Institute.

Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert has kindly donated the first part of her archive to the project. The files are currently being processed by Project Archivist, Michaela Garland, at the Bodleian Library
Project Archivist Michaela Garland is working on Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert’s archive at the Bodleian Library

Professor Gilbert has said:


[I’m] passionate about inspiring the next generation of girls into STEM careers and hope that children who see my Barbie will realise how vital careers in science are to help the world around us.

Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert

She’s received many honours. Maybe the most unusual was from toy company Mattel, who produced a Barbie doll in her likeness.

Making science the hero

This is all brilliant coverage. It has inspired many girls from around the world to write to Sarah and thank her.

'Thank you' poster sent to the Jenner Institute for their work on the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine
‘Thank you’ poster sent to the Jenner Institute for their work on the Oxford-AstraZeneca SARS-CoV-1 Vaccine

But some might ask whether it gets the right message across to girls from and from all backgrounds across the globe.

By making a hero of a single, brilliant (white) scientist, don’t we make the career seem elitist? Is science out of reach for the average girl?

Professor Gilbert herself has always acknowledged and thanked her team.

She sees the science — and not herself — as the role model.


We did not have time to think about how dangerous this virus was, we just did our job.

I could see how hard and devotedly our scientists worked, doing day and night shifts.

The atmosphere was nice and friendly.

I think, we all were getting closer, like one big family.

Mariya Mykhaylyk, Lab Assistant at the Jenner Institute

So this singling out of the team’s leader is a media invention.

A ‘hero genius’ makes for a good story: a long hard slog by a team of hardworking scientists doesn’t.

Shouldn’t we instead celebrate the role of the whole vaccine team with its many women? Wouldn’t that better showcase the range of opportunities and variety of people involved?  

Knitting the stories together

At the Collecting Covid Project, we see a surprisingly wide range of pandemic-related work.

So far, we’ve tracked down equipment, stories, beer bottles — even virus-themed knitting!

And that means celebrating the very many staff involved at all levels.

Here’s just one example from Marion Watson, Head of Operations at CCVTM where the clinical aspects of the Covid-19 vaccine trials took place.

This knitted scientist and virus particles were made by Marion Watson, Head of Operations at CCVTM, where the clinical parts of the COVID-19 vaccine trial work took place.
This knitted scientist and virus particles were made by Marion Watson, Head of Operations at CCVTM, where the clinical parts of the Covid-19 vaccine trial work took place

Marion told us:


I did my degree and PhD at Imperial College London when there were only 8% women there (1976-1982).

Sometimes the men treated us as a commodity rather than peers.

The UK is so much better than it was (but still not equitable), let alone the wider world.

Marion Watson, Head of Operations at CCVTM

More on Collecting Covid

Keep an eye out for more news as the Collecting Covid project develops.

These are the first contributions from strong, ambitious, capable women.

I’m confident they won’t be the last.


Tina Eyre is Curator of the Collecting Covid Project at the History of Science Museum.

More to explore

More blogs about Women and Science

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Posted in: Collecting Covid, Oxford Science Stories, Uncategorized, Women and Science Tagged: covid, covid-19, covid19, curate, curation, history of medicine, history of science, History of Science Museum, vaccination, vaccine, vaccine trials, vaccines, women and science, women and sciences, women in STEM

Young Producers Curating Prayer: A display in the Islamic World collection

24 September 2019 by Emily Algar Leave a Comment

Over the last year the Young Producers voluntary group at the History of Science Museum, made up of Ellie Martin and Sam Hudson, has been working with the collection of scientific instruments from the Islamic World display in the top gallery creating new designs based upon feedback from an earlier public consultation project Curate, run by the learning team, which enabled us to identify specific objectives needed for the improvement of the interpretation of the Islamic World collection.

This collection contains many unique instruments including astrolabes. The History of Science Museum holds the largest collection of astrolabes in the world, so we thought it important that these beautifully crafted scientific instruments were highlighted in a more modern and accessible way.

The current display had remained largely the same for at least 20 years and desperately needed a revamp to make it more vibrant and engaging. Previous interventions by our group had added new information cards and a map, but this time we hoped to do something more ambitious.

Figure 1: The Islamic instruments case before the intervention.

As a group the Young Producers narrowed down some core themes that we wanted to reinterpret with our new displays; craftsmanship, religion and science, cosmology, diversity and knowledge exchange. In groups of two or three we split our work. Our group consisted of Sam Hudson, Ellie Martin and Phoebe Homer, and together we chose to develop an intervention on the functional aspects of the instruments; specifically, how they would be used when performing daily prayer within Islam.

In the cabinet, there already existed a small section that dealt with this theme (figure 2). However, we saw a few problems with it. Firstly, despite mentioning how some astrolabes contained prayer lines and gazetteers that would help you find the times for prayer and the direction of Mecca (qibla), neither were visible. This was because the front (rete) and plates (tympans) of the astrolabes had not been removed and so obscured the visitors’ view of both. Also, as the astrolabes were fairly small, any close study of them was difficult. We also felt that the current display lacked a fundamental human element, which made it hard for the viewer to connect to the objects. For instruments that were so crucial for facilitating Islamic beliefs, we decided that this was something that needed to be altered. Lastly, we agreed that the current labels were too complicated making them inaccessible, and that the whole display needed to be more eye-catching. Our section of the case is located right next to the gallery door and we wanted to utilise this location, providing a vibrant, engaging display that will draw the visitors’ attention.

Figure 2: The old display that covered prayer (bottom shelf).

To solve the first problem, we chose two new astrolabes to add to the display. The first – astrolabe 47714 (figure 3) – could be displayed with its rete removed so that the clear prayer lines for the 5 daily prayers could be seen. The second – astrolabe 35313 (figure 4) – had a beautiful gazetteer listing the direction of Mecca for 46 locations. This could be displayed with both its rete and its tympans removed so that the gazetteer was visible on the back. Additionally, an enlarged image of 35313 was planned so that visitors could clearly see the cities marked on the gazetteer with translations of their Arabic names. For the translations we sought support from the Multaka Project, a mixed group of Syrian and other forced migrants volunteering with the History of Science Museum. They were incredibly helpful in helping with all aspects of the display and Rana Ibrahim, Collections Officer for the project, was really supportive offering advice and translation. These initial changes helped to make the display more accessible and easily understood.

  • Figure 3: The plate from astrolabe 47714 showing prayer lines for the five daily prayers.
  • Figure 4: Astrolabe 35313 displayed without its’ rete and plates so the gazetteer is visible on the mater.

To give the display a more human touch we decided to include not only historical artefacts, but some contemporary objects. This included a modern prayer mat, prayer beads, a Qur’an and a contemporary Qibla indicator (figure 5). A Qibla indicator is a modified compass (figure 6) that points the user in the direction of Mecca. By adding a contemporary version we aimed to demonstrate the continuity of Islamic practice over time.

Finally, we re-designed the back panel, on which we planned to incorporate Islamic geometric designs (which involved many failed sketching attempts!). Thanks to the creativity of the Museum’s in-house designer, Keiko Ikeuchi, we included not only patterns, but an image that demonstrates Islamic prayer. The prayer mat was our last addition to the case. In order for it to be included, conservation required it to be frozen for two weeks to kill off any insect contaminants. Once it was in, it added an aspect to the display that catches your attention immediately and worked well with the prayer beads and Qur’an placed on top.

  • Figure 5: A contemporary plastic Qibla indicator
  • Figure 6: A Qibla indicator from the collection used in the display

After around six months’ work, we installed the display on the 30th August (figure 7). We hope that you agree that the space appears more vibrant and eye-catching than before. The contemporary objects were placed upon the prayer mat, along with two Qibla indicators, to give that section of the display a more casual, personal appearance. All of the labels were rewritten so that they were engaging and informative but accessible, with an enlarged and more modern font. Islamic patterns were included on the base panel and, a last-minute addition, we included a standing label about the first Muslim astronaut in space provoking the visitor to imagine how a Muslim might pray in space! We felt that this extra, fun bit of information would make a contemporary link with the new display helping visitors to engage with the content.

Figure 7: Our finished display.

After such a long process, we are so happy to see our ideas become a reality. As a group we agree that the end result far exceeds what we imagined in our minds (and pages and pages of rough drawings!). Depending upon time and resources, we are hoping to add more new displays to the cabinet inspired by other groups from the Young Producers. The combined effect should bring a completely fresh interpretation to the objects, and we are all really excited to see how this project evolves. We would like to thank all of those at HSM who helped us along with way, particularly Chris Parkin (organiser of the Young Producers programme), Rana Ibrahim (Multaka Project) and Keiko Ikeuchi for the beautiful graphic designwork.

Sam and Ellie (Young Producers) at the private viewing on 5th September 2019

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Posted in: Astrolabes, Uncategorized Tagged: astrolabe, curate, History of Science Museum, islamic instruments, Museums in Oxford, young producers

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