National Museums Scotland

Description

The origins of the natural sciences collections of National Museums Scotland can be traced back to 1694 with the acquisition by the “Toun College of Edinburgh” of the collection of Sir Andrew Balfour. The College, later the University of Edinburgh, continued to maintain natural history collections for teaching purposes, until it was passed to the government-funded museum when it was founded in 1855 as the Industrial Museum of Scotland (before being renamed the Edinburgh Museum of Science and Art in 1864 and then in 1904, the Royal Scottish Museum). Today, the natural sciences collections of National Museums Scotland number over 10 million specimens divided between four sections: Earth Systems, Invertebrates, Palaeobiology and Vertebrate Biology.

Contacts

ADMINISTRATIVE_POINT_OF_CONTACT
Nick Fraser
email: Nick.Fraser@nms.ac.uk

National Museums Scotland
Chambers Street
Edinburgh
EH1 1JF
Scotland
GB