Last time, I introduced to you guys one of the modern wonders of the city of London.

Today, we delve deeper into the scientific endeavors of the city and discover the many more wonders of the scientific world.

#5 Science Museum

A museum was founded in 1857 with the help of Bennet Woodcroft, an English industrial archaeologist who also happened to be the leading figure in patent reform. It was called the South Kensington Museum and was composed mainly of the very first industrial devices.

Some of Woodcroft’s contributions to the museum were: ‘Puffing Billy’ - the oldest surviving steam railway locomotive in the world (1814);

Above: Steam locomotive ‘Puffing Billy’

Robert Stephenson and Company’s ‘Rocket’ (1829) (pictured above on display in the Science Museum) – a steam locomotive design that set the standard for more modern locomotives; and the actual engine of Scottish engineer Henry Bell’s ‘Comet’ (1812) - the first commercially operated steamboat in Europe.

The earliest collection was separated from the South Kensington Museum in 1858 and was named the Museum of Patents. Five years later, it was changed again into the Patent Office Museum. And in 1885, the science collection of that museum was then renamed into the Science Museum. Pictured below is the Transportation Area of the Science Museum.

The Science Museum now holds a collection of over 300,000 items. Aside from the Billy, the Rocket, and the Comet, some of the more famous items in the museum include a reconstruction of Francis Crick and James Watson’s model of DNA (pictured below). The two, together with Maurice Wilkins, were awarded the 1962 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of the DNA structure.

Below: DNA model

Also being displayed in the museum is a working model of Charles Babbage’s Difference engine. The Difference engine was a mechanical calculator designed in 1822 to tabulate polynomial functions (functions that use more than one variable) – an advancement in computing logarithms and trigonometric equations that was way ahead of its time. Pictured below is the working replica of the design which is being displayed in the Science Museum.

The first prototype of the “Clock of the Long Now” is also on display. The Clock of the Long Now, or the 10,000-year clock, is a mechanical clock designed to keep time for 10,000 years. The clock actually began working years later from its conception in 1986 by Danny Hillis. It started working on December 31, 1999 – marking the beginning of the third millennium. Pictured below is the first working prototype. As of December of last year, only two other Clocks of the Long Now have been made.

Below: Clock of the Long Now

Below: Apollo 10 Command Module

The Apollo 10 Command Module (pictured above) is also on display. Apollo 10 was the fourth manned mission in the Apollo program (a NASA program for moon landings). According to the 2001 Guinness World Records, Apollo 10 has the record for the highest speed attained by a manned vehicle. During the mission’s return trip from the Moon on May 26, 1969, it recorded a speed of 39,897 kilometers per hour or 24,791 miles per hour.

The Science Museum also has its own library – which was officially Britain’s National Library for Science, Medicine and Technology until the 1960s. There you can find early periodicals, books and manuscripts that were used by scientific scholars from all over the globe.

As for the modern attractions, the Science Museum had just recently added an IMAX 3D Cinema that shows science and nature documentaries. The IMAX is found in the Wellcome Wing – the most contemporary part of the museum. Also on display there is one of Formula One champ Mika Hakkinen’s McLaren Mercedes F1 cars.

The wing was named after Sir Henry Solomon Wellcome, an American-British pharmaceutical entrepreneur who had a vast collection of medically related artifacts – some of which are also being displayed in the Science Museum. On display in “Glimpses of Medical History” are reconstructions and dioramas of the history of practiced medicine. Another gallery called “Science and the Art of Medicine,” exhibits medical instruments and practices from different countries, spanning from ancient to more modern times.

The Wellcome Wing, however, is more focused on Bioscience or Life Science – which makes the Science Museum the world’s leading center for contemporary science that is actually accessible to the public. Most of the displays are interactive and are therefore more appealing to the public. Pictured above is one side of the Wellcome Wing. Fronted by a wall of blue glass, a hue of blue surrounds the entire hall.

The museum will definitely ignite interest in science. Plus, with the enormous size of the collection, you may not need to visit any other science museum ever again. Give it a shot, its well worth your time and energy. It’s a “fun house” of knowledge – that’s how I put it.

Entry to the Science Museum is free. Charges only apply to the IMAX 3D Cinema, simulators and some of the exhibitions. The museum is open 10.00 am to 4.00 pm daily except Christmas. The complete address is Exhibition Road, London SW7 2DD and their number is +44 (0)20 7942 4000. to get there simply follow this map: