How to put a black box in a showcase: History of science museums and recent heritage

• The traditional object-oriented approach is inadequate for history of science museums.
• Recent artefacts should be considered as ‘key pieces’.
• ‘Key pieces’ derive their value from their place in an important historical event.
• The ‘key pieces’ approach could be applied by museums to appeal to modern audiences.

Coping with recent heritage is troublesome for history of science museums, since modern scientific artefacts often suffer from a lack of esthetic and artistic qualities and expressiveness. The traditional object-oriented approach, in which museums collect and present objects as individual showpieces is inadequate to bring recent heritage to life. This paper argues that recent artefacts should be regarded as “key pieces.” In this approach the object derives its meaning not from its intrinsic qualities but from its place in an important historical event or development. The “key pieces” approach involves a more organic way of collecting and displaying, focussing less on the individual object and more on the context in which it functioned and its place in the storyline. Finally, I argue that the “key pieces” approach should not be limited to recent heritage. Using this method as a general guiding principle could be a way for history of science museums to appeal to today’s audiences.