The newly launched King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) has finally opened its much taunted Museum of Science & Technology in Islam. It celebrates the contributions of Muslim scientists to the world’s knowledge in the period between 650 and 1650 AD.

Unfortunately, the museum is currently only open to students, faculty and invited guests at the university at present due to a limited capacity. It is actually unclear from the website whether it will be open to the public in the future or not. But if it is becomes exclusive to the university faculty, then it would definitely be a missed chance to raise awareness in an interactive, exciting medium about the Golden Age of Science in Islamic history.

The museum itself is divided into nine parts, or clusters as they are called. The first one is an introduction to the rich scientific culture that thrived in the Islamic world for nearly a thousand years nearly 500 years ago. After that initial stop, visitors can then visit any of seven clusters dedicated to different branches of science, such as astronomy, zoology, chemistry, architecture, and mathematics.

In each of these clusters visitors get to learn about the Muslim scientists who were most prominent in that branch through interactive tools. They get a chance to interact with the scientific inventions made, flip through digital displays and listen to narrations.

It is obvious that the museum has gone to great extents to make use of modern techniques for the exhibits. The museum is full of multi-touch tables, flipbooks, interactive videos and other modern gadgets to tell its stories.

Fortunately, the museum’s website is offering a 360° virtual tour of the museum. While the tour does not allow interaction with the exhibits nor a free-moving, close up camera to really explore to your heart’s delight, it gives a taste of what is shaping up to be a very interesting and special museum.

I really hope they open it up to the public in the near future, though I don’t know how that will happen with the museum located within the campus of KAUST.