National Museum of Science and Technology (Spain)

National Museum of Science and Technology
Museo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología
La Coruña MUNCYT façade
Map
Established30 June 1980 (1980-06-30)
LocationLa Coruña and Alcobendas, Spain
Coordinates43°22′24″N 8°25′13″W / 43.3732°N 8.4203°W / 43.3732; -8.4203
TypeTechnology museum
Collection size19,000
Websitehttp://www.muncyt.es/

The National Museum of Science and Technology (Spanish: Museo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología – MUNCYT) is a technology museum in Spain devoted to technology promotion and preservation. It owns a collection of more than 19,000 scientific instruments, technological devices, vehicles, machines and industrial tools from the 16th century until nowadays. Dependent on the Ministry of Science, it is one of the National Museums of Spain, and it is managed by the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT).[1]

The museum was established on 30 June 1980[2] and its first location was opened on 1997 in the old Delicias railway station building in Madrid sharing premises with the Railway Museum.[3] The museum current main exhibition hall is in La Coruña, opened on 4 May 2012,[4] with a second exhibition hall in Alcobendas (Madrid) opened on 12 December 2014.[5] The museum is a member of the International Council of Museums science & technology committee (CIMUSET) and of the European Network of Science Centres and Museums (ECSITE).

Among the pieces in display at La Coruña are the front section of the "Lope de Vega", an Iberia Boeing 747 in service between 1981 and 2003, airplane that brought Picasso's Guernica to Spain in September 1981,[6] the prototype of the "Mechanical Encyclopedia", the 1949 mechanical precursor to the electronic book, by Spanish inventor Ángela Ruiz Robles,[7] a replica of the stratonautical space suit, the 1935 precursor to the space suit, by engineer Emilio Herrera, the Fresnel lens used between 1857 and 1904 at the Tower of Hercules lighthouse[8] and the first computer arriving in Spain, an IBM 650 computer bought by RENFE in 1959.[9]

  1. ^ National Museum of Science and Technology. "MUNCYT Collection" (in Spanish). Retrieved March 16, 2023.
  2. ^ Boletín Oficial del Estado (3 September 1980). "Royal Decree 1691/1980, of June 30, by which the National Museum of Science and Technology is created" (in Spanish). Retrieved May 1, 2020.
  3. ^ Joaquín Vila (14 September 1980). "Las Delicias station will be a Museum of Science and Technology". ABC (in Spanish). Retrieved May 1, 2020.
  4. ^ "Opened in A Coruña the first National Museum in Galicia". La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 4 May 2012. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
  5. ^ "The National Museum of Science and Technology opens in Alcobendas with more than 500 treasures". RTVE (in Spanish). 12 December 2014. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
  6. ^ "The National Museum of Science and Technology buys the cockpit of the Jumbo that brought the Guernica". El País (in Spanish). 27 March 2009. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
  7. ^ Gavín, Ángel (27 January 2019). "The electronic book, an invention of doña Angelita". Heraldo de Aragón (in Spanish). Retrieved March 16, 2023.
  8. ^ "The Lens of the Tower of Hercules is a museum piece already". El Mundo (in Spanish). 24 February 2012. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
  9. ^ Obelleiro, Paola (5 May 2012). "A Coruña opens the National Science Museum "as a sign of life"". El País (in Spanish). Retrieved March 16, 2023.