About Science Museum, South Kensington, London

Stephenson's Rocket Locomotive

                           

Boulton and Watt Steam Engine

Modern Steam Locomotive

Airplane in Flight Gallery

Space Suit

                               

Apollo Space Capsule

Ford T Model Car

                                

To see two big museums in a single day is quite tiresome and will not give a full picture of the famous exhibits displayed there. Yet time constraint made us rush through these two capacious museums casting a casual glance at the countless attractions. We visited first “ Natural History Museum” and spent three hours and later went to “Science Museum” which is adjacent to it on the Exhibition Road. A subway connects the museum to the South Kensington Underground Station Though it was founded in 1857, many changes and renovations have been carried out to make it more developed and useful to public with so many rapid changes in various fields of science. It is one of the city’s major attractions and more than 3.3 million people visit this museum every year.

 This museum is a public funded museum and entry is free except for temporary exhibitions. This museum has been merged with the Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester in 2012. In 1857 Bennet Woodcraft founded this Museum from the collection of the Royal Society of Arts and items from the South Kensington Museum. From these items the collection of machinery was separated and made into the “Museum of Patents” in 1858 and later called the “Patent Office Museum”. In 1883 these items were transferred to South Kensington museum and later in 1885 the science collections were renamed as “Science Museum”. The Art collections eventually became the “Victoria and Albert Museum”. On 26^th June, 1909 the Science Museum became an independent entity. The present building was designed by Sir Richard Allison and the Museum was opened in stages to public between 1919 and 1928. Later many extensions and modifications have been to include more galleries. This Museum has a collection of nearly 3,00,000 items connected with various branches of Science and technology.

 The “East Hall” spreading up to three floors is the first area seen by visitors at the entrance.  Many big steam engines of different sizes and shapes greet your eye. The oldest surviving steam engine (Puffing Billy) designed by William Hedley in 1814 is one of the star attractions. The gradual change and evolution of steam engine is shown by these wonderful mechanical objects. Another important attraction on the ground floor is the re-creation of James Watt’s garret shop comprising nearly 8,300 articles taken from the famous scientist’s house at Heathfield Hall which was demolished in 1927. The giant metallic ring fitted with LED bulbs gives out different patterns and messages when visitors type messages in the energy gallery.

 The gallery “Making the Modern World” deals with rockets, satellites and exploration of space. The models of Stephenson’s rocket and Apollo Spacecraft are prominent exhibits in this section.  In the “Flight” gallery, the models of various types of aero planes starting right from that of Wright Brothers is worth seeing. The helicopters and cross section of the Boeing 747 and military fighter planes like Spitfire and Hurricane surprise us by their sheer size and complicated machinery. To see such scientific wonders from such close quarters is really a rare opportunity.  Display of various models of cars is another interesting place to see. Very old cars along with most modern cars are exhibited in this section. One can see how fast technology is developing creating many new things with modern comforts and facilities. 

various types of switches and plugs

                        

various types of fuses and fuse boxes

                      

                                  

Radio in olden days

                                        Teasmade models (machine fro making tea)

Next one can find a lot of interest in the gallery “Information Age” which shows the evolution of communication field. Many models right from Morse telegraph to latest digital devices are displayed here. Various models of old phones with dialing system and their odd shapes make us remember our bygone days when only very few people had the privilege of having a desk phone in their houses. Others had to go to telegraph office or any telephone booth to communicate with their people. In computer section the first original computer by its sheer big size and so many keys makes us wonder and think how fast science has transformed the size and shape of the huge computing machine to modern slick size and shape.

Analytical Engine devised by Charles Babbage

Ferranti Pegasus, 1959 the oldest computer in the Museum

                         

                        

 Various models of domestic gadgets such as sewing machines, refrigerators, washing machines and mixers are displayed in chronological order. We felt very much curious and interested to see those old models made of different materials including earth and porcelain. We also saw the photos of many famous scientists and their life histories and their contribution to science.


                   

Gas Heaters

Cleaners in various sizes

Coal Stoves of earlier period

 In the Launchpad Gallery there are more than fifty interactive exhibits with live experiments and one can avail the advantage of explainers who give you a clear description about these objects. Another useful gallery for school children is “Engineer Your Future” which gives a lot of information about careers in engineering and encourages them to choose the field of their choice. This gallery was started by the Royal Academy of Engineering in collaboration with a group of companies and was opened in December 2014.

 The Science Museum has also organized many touring exhibitions at various venues in U.K. and Europe to educate and inspire people with latest information on various scientific topics such as “The Science of Aliens”, “The Science of Spying”, “The Science Box” and “The Science of Survival” etc. The Science Museum’s web site gives a lot of information about its valuable collections. The Palgrave Macmillan published the first complete history of the Museum since 1957 under the title “Science for the Nation: Perspectives on the History of the Science Museum” on the occasion of the centenary year of the Science Museum on 14^th April. 2010. “The Dana Research Centre and Library", along with facilities like a café and bar, was opened in the premises of the museum in 2003 for public convenience.   Documentary Films on science and nature are shown in Imax 3D theatre . Tickets have to be bought for I-Max theatre, flight simulators and special exhibitions.

We did not find time to visit Henry Wellcome Gallery on fourth and fifth floors. The fourth floor exhibit called “Glimpses of Medical History” deals with history of medicine and the fifth floor called “Science and the Art of Medicine” with models of medical instruments and practices from ancient days and from many countries. The library of this museum has been shifted to Science Museum Library in Wroughton,near Swindon, Wiltshire. It has many valuable books, journals, manuscripts on Science, Medicine and technology. Nearly 1, 70,000 items from this Museum which are not on current display are stored at Blythe House in West Kensington.  This House has many research facilities like a conservation laboratory, a photo studio and a special area to examine newly arrived items and specimens. Let us hope that a new library with all facilities may be set up by authorities within the premises of the museum for the benefit of visitors and young budding scientists.

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  7th August, 2017                                                            Somaseshu Gutala