Introduction

The Introduction is where the author justies herself, and produces the reasons for having put this book, which grew out of a doctoral thesis, into publishable form. There are two main reasons for my having done this, the rst of which perhaps has no immediate further justication. The second, I hope, is justied by the rest of this book. First, all my working life I have been surrounded by the debate: what are science museums for? Why do we collect the material culture of science? This debate has become more pressing as life and work have become more politicized, and the public sector (in which museums are placed) becomes increasingly more answerable to its multiplying political masters.