Museum of Science and Industry

The Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) in Manchester, England, is a large museum devoted to the development of science, technology, and industry and particularly the city's contributions in those areas. It is an Anchor Point of ERIH – the European Route of Industrial Heritage – and is managed as a non-departmental public body.

There are extensive displays on the theme of transport (railway locomotives and rolling stock, aircraft, and space vehicles), power (water, electricity, steam and gas engines), Manchester's sewerage and sanitation, textiles, communications and computing. The museum also offers steam train rides, hauled by a replica of "Planet", one of Robert Stephenson's Planet class steam locomotive.

The museum was originally called the "North Western Museum of Science and Industry" when it opened in 1969 in temporary premises on Grosvenor Street in Chorlton-on-Medlock. In 1978 the Greater Manchester Council purchased the earliest part of the former Liverpool Road Station from British Rail, which had been closed in 1975. The council paid the nominal sum of £1 for the site. The museum opened at this site on 15 September 1983, and later expanded to include the whole of the former station.

The museum used to be located on Grosvenor St to the south of the city centre, and had close ties with UMIST, having mostly grown out of the Department of History of Science & Technology. In 1983, having obtained more funding and outgrown its former site, it moved and is now located on Castlefield, near the site of the original Roman fort in Manchester (Mamucium); it incorporates Liverpool Road Station (vacated by British Rail in 1975), one of the original termini of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, the world's first passenger railway.

Text: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_of_Science_and_Industry_(Manchester)
Photo: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MOSI.jpg

Exhibitions and events

Experiment!

Permanent exhibition

Stare into the mirror of infinity, spin the turbulence zone, or watch  your own skeleton ride a bike. Some of the most amazing facts about science in everyday life are explained in this fascinating...

Underground Manchester Gallery

Permanent exhibition

Go underground to find out why clean water and effective sewerage were vital to public health and Manchester's development. Located in the cellars of the Station Building, this gallery tells the...

Revolution Manchester Gallery

Permanent exhibition

MOSI's newest gallery opened to the public on 29 January 2011. This gallery serves as an introduction to MOSI's subject themes, galleries and collections - and also highlights other heritage venues...

The Making of Manchester Gallery

Permanent exhibition

Relive the Peterloo Massacre and explore other major events in Manchester’s history in this gallery. The Making of Manchester tells the story of Manchester from Roman Times to the present...

Gas Gallery

Permanent exhibition

Trace the story of gas supply and discover how coal was turned into gas. Built in 1817, Manchester's first gasworks stood on nearby Water Street. Gas street lamps, like those lighting the Gas Gallery...

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