Welcome to Stephen Johnston’s web pages

Picture of Stephen Johnston. I’m a curator at a university museum: I’ve been at the History of Science Museum, University of Oxford since 1995. (Previously, from 1987 to 1995, I was a curator at the Science Museum, London.) As an academic curator I get to teach, research and also present directly to the public.

My research and teaching focus on topics in the histories of science, technology and mathematics, particularly emphasising scientific instruments and museum collections. I started off working on 16th-century England, but have also published on topics such as 18th-century architecture and 19th-century computing. Current work-in-progress includes two articles on Thomas Digges (on magnetism and the infinite universe) and a piece on Edward Wright and the first Mercator chart. I’ve supervised doctoral students working on topics ranging from Renaissance engineers to Spanish astronomy and astrophysics c. 1900.

On the public front, I have been involved in exhibitions ranging from the archaeology of early museums to the role of families in science, and I regularly give public talks and tours.

When I started these pages, I was hoping to give myself a handy place to:

If you see something that seems worth comment or correction, feel free to email me: I’d be happy to incorporate and acknowledge suggestions online. I can be contacted at stephen.johnston@hsm.ox.ac.uk.