The stunning seventeenth-century 'Old Ashmolean Building' on Broad Street in Oxford houses one of the finest collections of early instruments from Europe and the Islamic world. Together with a fascinating range of material from the eighteenth century to the present day, these artefacts offer an intriguing insight into ingenuity and creativity, and tell amazing stories of human scientific endeavour in a wider cultural and social context. The Director, Silke Ackermann, hand-picks her favourite items and provides an intimate, idiosyncratic guide to a remarkable collection.