Science Museum, London

The Science Museum on Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London is part of the National Museum of Science and Industry. The museum is a major London tourist attraction. The Science Museum now holds a collection of over 300,000 items, including such famous items as Stephenson’s Rocket, Puffing Billy (the oldest surviving steam locomotive), the first jet engine, a reconstruction of Francis Crick and James Watson’s model of DNA, some of the earliest remaining steam engines, a working example of Charles Babbage’s Difference engine, and the first prototype of the 10,000-year Clock of the Long Now. It also contains hundreds of interactive exhibits. A recent addition is the IMAX 3D Cinema showing science and nature documentaries, some of them in 3-D, and the Welcome Wing which focuses on digital technology. Entrance has been free since 1 December 2001. The museum also houses some of the many objects collected by Henry Wellcome around a medical theme. These are displayed up on the 4th and 5th floors, although the objects on display are a fraction of the overall collection. The Science Museum has a dedicated library, and until the 1960s was Britain’s National Library for Science, Medicine and Technology. It holds runs of periodicals, early books and manuscripts, and is used by scholars world-wide. It has for a number of years been run in conjunction with the Library of Imperial College, but in 2004 the Museum was unable to bear its share of the cost, so options are being discussed for the library’s break-up and dispersal. Perfect spot for your family vacatrion.
GPS location: 1° 29′ 51″ N, 0° 10′ 29″ W

Popularity: 3%

Interesting things to do:

1. Deutsches Museum, Munich
2. Powerhouse Museum, Sydney
3. Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo
4. British Library, London
5. Old Parliament House, Athens
6. The Morgan Library & Museum, New York
7. Royal Air Force Museum, London
8. London, British Museum
9. Nationalmuseum, Stockholm
10. The Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh