Musée des Arts et Métiers - le cnam

The Musée des Arts et Métiers is one of the most ancient technical and industrial museum of the world. As a component of the Conservatoire national des arts et métiers (Cnam), its history is closely linked to it. Since its foundation in 1794, its collections have widen with many additions, precious testimonies of the evolution of scientific knowledge and technical progress. The museum has now an exceptional collection, remarkable in volume (close to 80,000 objects and 15,000 drawings) and in diversity with the multitude of thematic it covers. Through seven big collections (Scientific instruments, Materials, Construction, Communication, Mechanics, Energy and Transport), the museum presents around 2,500 objects which reflects the various facets of the sciences and techniques history. It’s a opportunity to discover one of the most atypical places : the Saint-Martin-des-Champs former priory which was considered the “temple” of technique during the French Revolution. Among the most remarkable pieces, you can discover Jacques Alexandre Charles’s physics cabinet and Antoine Laurent Lavoisier’s laboratory, Louis Ferdinand Berthoud’s clocks collection, Jacques Vaucanson’s loom, the Chappe telegraph, the Cugnot fardier or Clément Ader’s Plane number 3.