In the halls of natural history museums all over the world, you can peer through the glass and come face-to-face with the ghosts of extinction. Extinction has been going on as long as there has been biological life—in fact over 99% of all species that have ever existed on Earth are extinct--but extinction usually happen at a slow place. We are now, however, living through the Sixth Mass Extinction, with species rapidly going extinct because of human actions. These are the ghosts of extinction that now make their homes in the museum.
FREE guided tour of the Museum. Join our expert guide as we uncover fascinating facts about the Museum, from our fin whale to the dodo and the beetles collected by Charles Darwin.
Spaces are limited so please book ahead.
Dates:
Friday, 9 January, 2026 - 15:00 to 15:45
Friday, 13 February, 2026 - 15:00 to 15:45
Friday, 13 March, 2026 - 15:00 to 15:45
Explore a remarkable range of scientific instruments used to make sense of the world, from the Middle Ages to the present day. Discover objects from astronomy, navigation, surveying, drawing and calculation, including sundials, mathematical instruments, early electrical apparatus—and even a microscope once owned by Charles Darwin.
Plus, enjoy hands-on activities in the newly refurbished Learning Gallery, perfect for little ones — or book a Whipple Highlights guided tour. Afterwards, take home a treat from the Whipple gift shop to remember your visit.
Explore a remarkable range of scientific instruments used to make sense of the world, from the Middle Ages to the present day. Discover objects from astronomy, navigation, surveying, drawing and calculation, including sundials, mathematical instruments, early electrical apparatus—and even a microscope once owned by Charles Darwin.
Plus, enjoy hands-on activities in the newly refurbished Learning Gallery, perfect for little ones — or book a Whipple Highlights guided tour. Afterwards, take home a treat from the Whipple gift shop to remember your visit.
Join us for our third Little Stars session – a relaxed morning at the Whipple Museum. We’ll have picture books, drawing materials, and sensory play resources. We’d also love to hear what you’d like to see in future activities for little ones at the museum.
There’s no need to book, just drop-in. All welcome, especially suitable for families with babies and young children.
Join us for our second Little Stars session – a relaxed morning at the Whipple Museum. We’ll have picture books, drawing materials, and sensory play resources. We’d also love to hear what you’d like to see in future activities for little ones at the museum.
There’s no need to book, just drop-in. All welcome, especially suitable for families with babies and young children.
This January, The Art of Deception will take visitors to Cambridge’ Whipple Museum of the History of Science into the dark underbelly of the world of collecting. How do fake artefacts end up in museums? Who made them, and why? And how do we detect them?
Tired of overwatering and underwatering? Want to create an indoor oasis where your houseplants thrive and flourish? Join Glasshouse Senior Horticulturist Kathryn Bray on this one-day course, covering a diversity of house plant topics.
Packed with colour and pattern, interior designs vie with brightly coloured bedding schemes, and artificial flowers inside reflect artifice outside. Rich fashion fabrics are resolutely plain, but do the corsets and constrictions, bustles and flounces mirror the contrivances and deceptions in the garden where topiary and carpet bedding entertain? Inside and out are brought together in the middle-class home where ‘taste’ rules all.
Second part in a monthly series examining the interplay of textiles, fashion, culture, and garden design. Each session is sold separately.
In this one-day course you will learn all the processes involved in designing, carving and printing a lino block.
