Worldviews

In the Worldviews exhibition, you can see:

• A mandrake, a shrunken head and magic charms from the museum's collections
• Objects that take on new meaning as knowledge grows
• Perspectives on what sets science apart from other explanations
• Seating where you can reflect and wonder

For 200 years, the University Museum has collected, systematized and researched objects. New methods and questions mean that even old objects take on new meaning. The history of these objects tells us something about the different ways people have seen and explained the world.

Sometimes an object's meaning shifts with new knowledge and a new context, and some objects can carry several meanings at once. The exhibition offers a glimpse into how scientific knowledge comes into being, and how it has changed with new research.

The researcher's task is to gain deeper insight into people, society and the world around us. In the exhibition, you will learn what sets scientific knowledge apart from everyday knowledge and religious belief, and the ethical dilemmas researchers encounter along the way.

Scientific knowledge emerges through the interplay of observation, theory and method. Research findings are rarely final. They form part of a process in which new knowledge both broadens our understanding of a phenomenon and challenges prevailing views.

How has science shaped, and been shaped by, the worldviews of its time? Why did researchers take part in race science? How have theories given people power over their own fate? What are the consequences of research fraud?

And why does the museum keep a mandrake, a shrunken head and magic charms in its collections? Welcome to an exhibition where you can reflect, wonder and take part in the conversation about the relationship between science and society.