What is 1001 Inventions?

1001 Inventions is a global educational initiative that promotes awareness of a thousand years of scientific and cultural achievements from Muslim civilisation from the 7th century onwards, and how those contributions helped build the foundations of our modern world.

The 1001 Inventions global touring exhibition and the educational products that accompany the exhibition all highlight the scientific and technological achievements made by men and women, of different faiths and cultures that lived in Muslim civilisation.

The 1001 Inventions exhibition completed its record-breaking residency at London’s Science Museum with 400,000 visitors in June 2010 and a block buster residency at the iconic and historic Sultan Ahmed Square in Istanbul with 390,000 visitors. The exhibition is set to open in New York in December 2010.

Originally launched in the United Kingdom in March 2006, 1001 Inventions was created by the Foundation for Science, Technology and Civilisation (FSTC), a British based non-profit, non-religious and academic organization. Working with world’s leading academics, 1001 Inventions engages with the public through educational media and interactive global exhibitions, in order to highlight the shared cultural and technological inheritance of humanity.

A previous smaller 1001 Inventions exhibition toured the UK starting at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester back in March 2006. It then went to Cardiff, Wales, Birmingham Thinktank, Glasgow Science Centre, Scotland and at the Museum of Croydon, London.

The previous exhibition graced the UK Houses of Parliament (in October 2008), which was exclusively for Ministers, Peers, MPs and parliamentary staff. In addition, the previous exhibition was displayed at the European Parliament and at the United Nations in New York.