WHEN William Shakespeare wrote "all the world's a stage", this might be roughly what he thought that stage looked like.

The 16th century Armillary Sphere, constructed according to the world system described by the ancient mathematician Ptolemy, places the earth is at the centre of the universe surrounded by the great circles of the heavens.

In Shakespeare's time, this was astronomers' best guess for what our solar system looked like.

The sphere is just one of the exhibits in a new show at the Oxford Museum of the History of Science in Broad Street illustrating how Shakespeare was informed by the science of his day.

This particular Armillary Sphere once belonged to one of the wealthiest peers in Elizabethan England – Henry Percy the ninth Earl of Northumberland.

Percy was known as the "Wizard Earl" for his vast library and interests in astronomy, astrology and alchemy but was also imprisoned in the Tower of London for 16 years on suspicion of being involved with the Gunpowder Plot of 1605.

The museum's modern collections curator Sophie Waring is giving guided tours between the antiquated instruments in Shakespeare’s World View: Stars, Globes and Magic.

She said: "The installation and trail look at the understanding of the natural world during Shakespeare’s time, examining astrology, time and magic."

The trail and installation will be in the museum until the end of December, and there will be another curator-led tour on Wednesday, September 21, at 1.30pm.