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Page last updated at 14:22 GMT, Monday, 27 July 2009 15:22 UK

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In pictures: Cosmos and culture

The launch of an exhibition called Cosmos and Culture: How Astronomy Shaped Our World at the Science Museum, London, coincides with the 400th anniversary of the first use of the telescope by Jacobean scientist Thomas Harriot. Above is one of his Moon maps.

Replica of a Galileo telescope (Image: Science Museum)

The scientist most closely associated with the telescope is Galileo. The exhibition has a replica of one of the two surviving devices built by the Italian. He is credited with refining existing designs into a powerful tool for astronomy.

Another telescope pioneer was Sir William Herschel, who discovered Uranus in 1781 using the telescope above. He is also credited with describing infrared for the first time by splitting sunlight into its different colours and measuring the temperatures.

Islamic horary quadrant (Image: Science Museum)

Horary quadrants determine the time from the altitude of the Sun. This 18th Century Islamic instrument may have been used to calculate prayer times. The lines on the front represent the motion of the Sun across the sky.

French folding fan (Image: Science Museum)

This fan was inspired by the “Great Comet” of 1811. It shows that the impact of the celestial show went far beyond the night sky; French wine-makers said the comet helped produce a fine vintage, yet it was blamed for triggering an earthquake in the US.

This Arabic celestial globe dates from the 17th Century. The silver stars on this globe are labelled with their Arabic names, and mathematicians would have used instruments like this to assist with astronomical calculations and to refine calendars.

Visitors to the exhibition, which runs until the end of 2010, will also be able to see a “Moon machine” that featured in the first Wallace and Gromit film. The cooker/robot character issues parking tickets and dreams of a skiing holiday.

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