‘As long as you need to be able to draw a straight line, hopefully rulers will have a place in the world.’

In the final episode, host Nihal Arthanayake is joined by Senior Production Manager at Ordnance Survey, Jim Goldsmith, and Copy Services Assistant at the National Railway Museum, Chris Valkoinen, to explore the long history of the ruler.

Journey to ancient Sumer where you’ll find the oldest surviving ruler, explore how measurements were a point of conflict in the French Revolution, and discover the role of Alexander Hamilton (from the musical!) in bringing technical drawing skills to Britain.

This episode was inspired by some of the rulers in the Science Museum Group Collection. Our incredible collection contains more than 7 million items which illustrate the impact of science, technology, engineering and medicine on all our lives.

A Brief History of Stuff is a Storythings and Science Museum Group production. Find out more about this episode on our website. You can discover more stories about the everyday objects around you in our Everyday Technology series, and find out why the kilogram was redefined in 2019 in this blog post.

Follow the Science Museum on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for more insights into the collection and use #ABriefHistoryOfStuff to join the conversation on social media. You can discover more about the history of Ordnance Survey on their website, and research our technical drawing archives at Search Engine at the National Railway Museum. You can pick up copies of Chris Valkoinen’s Railways: A History in Drawings from late August 2021.

Subscribe to A Brief History of Stuff wherever you listen to podcasts to be the first to hear new episodes. To help others discover A Brief History of Stuff, please rate our podcast. You can support this podcast and our museums by donating online.

If you have an idea for a future episode or want to share your thoughts on our podcast, please email us via podcast@sciencemuseum.org.uk.

They quietly whir and ping away in our kitchens, heating up food and the odd cold cup of tea - but behind these unassuming boxes of plastic and metal lies a remarkable story.

In this episode, host Nihal Arthanayake is joined by food stylist and recipe writer Mima Sinclair to explore the rise of the mug cake, and curator Liz Bruton who reveals how the origins of the microwave are not so innocent…

This episode was inspired by microwave ovens in the Science Museum Group Collection. Our incredible collection contains more than 7 million items which illustrate the impact of science, technology, engineering and medicine on all our lives. 

A Brief History of Stuff is a Storythings and Science Museum Group production. Find out more about this episode on our website. You can discover more stories about the everyday objects around you, including the history of kitchen appliances on our website. This episode features an Amana Radarange Touchmatic microwave oven and Randall and Boot’s original cavity magnetron valve.

Follow the Science Museum on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for more insights into the collection and use #ABriefHistoryOfStuff to join the conversation on social media.

Subscribe to A Brief History of Stuff wherever you listen to podcasts to be the first to hear new episodes. To help others discover A Brief History of Stuff, please rate our podcast. You can support this podcast and our museums by donating online.

If you have an idea for a future episode or want to share your thoughts on our podcast, please email us via podcast@sciencemuseum.org.uk.

‘Food has been a really important part of our socializing as humans. It’s when we enjoy food together, we tell the stories and sit around a fire as our ancient ancestors would have done. And we like to do that as well, on the space station.’

In this episode, host Nihal Arthanayake speaks to British astronaut Tim Peake about what food is really like in space, while Science Museum curator Helen Peavitt discusses the history of food preservation.

Hear how tin cans have helped or hindered Antarctic explorers, what meals might involve on an expedition to Mars, and why it’s probably not a good idea to eat baked beans in space…

This episode was inspired by tinned space food in the Science Museum Group Collection which was made in collaboration with Heston Blumenthal for Tim Peake's journey to the International Space Station in 2015.

Our incredible collection contains more than 7 million items which illustrate the impact of science, technology, engineering and medicine on all our lives. You can discover more stories about the everyday objects around you, including the history of food preservation on our website.

Read about the first bacon sarnie ever to be consumed in space on our blog and discover the oldest surviving tin can in our collection.

Follow the Science Museum on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for more insights into the collection and use #ABriefHistoryOfStuff to join the conversation on social media.

You can follow Tim Peake on Instagram and Twitter.

Subscribe to A Brief History of Stuff wherever you listen to podcasts to be the first to hear new episodes. To help others discover A Brief History of Stuff, please rate our podcast. You can support this podcast and our museums by donating online.

If you have an idea for a future episode or want to share your thoughts on our podcast, please email us via podcast@sciencemuseum.org.uk.