2018-05 - Science Museum (London, UK)

Portable blood transfusion kit from WWI

Perhaps the best kept secret of the world-class free museums of London, the Science Museum was empty in comparison to the Natural History Museum and British Museum. Without any plan in mind, I simply wandered into the first exhibit that caught my eye, which happened to be on World War I (WWI) and the medical advances that came out of it. For example, did you know that during WWI, sphagnum moss was used for bandages? Or that tetanus was often fatal during WWI until the military started giving everyone anti-tetenus shots after leaving battles? Or that Marie Curie coordinated portable x-rays and technicians to operate them directly to the fronts? Or that one of the noise makers that we use today for sports games was originally a rattle letting everyone know that there was going to be a gas attack? There was also a section dedicated to the soldiers returning home with injuries and amputated limbs. Many advances were made in plastic surgery and in prosthetic limbs because of WWI. A sad reminder of the tragedy of war and how it forwards the field of medecine.

Some of the plans hanging from the ceiling, including a replica of Otto Lilienthal in one of his gliders

The next exhibit that I wandered toward was an entire floor of the museum dedicated to the history of flight. It covers everything from hot air balloons to a cross section of a Boeing 747. From the ceiling hangs plane after plane, including a replica of the Wright brothers' plane (1903). Plus, along one wall, there are a collection of plane engines to compare and contrast. Some of the planes that I admired included a sky writer originally built for WWI (S.E. 5a), a plane that made the first non-stop flight across the northern Atlantic in 1919 (Vickers Vimy) and the Schempp-Hirth Cirrus glider (1973).

Radio tuning inductor from Rubgy, England

Descending a floor below, an exhibit traces the communication technologies over the last 200 years. Basically, it begins with the telegraph, as information being transmitted via electrical pulses. There is a Hughes printing telegraph on display, which has piano keys on it for use in typing in the messages. Did you know that the stock market crash in 1929 was partly due to the fact that the telegraphs couldn't keep up with all the trades? The next section is on television and radios with signals broadcasted as waves. There is a model of a radio tower built in Russia (1922) and a radio tuning inductor built in England (1943). Plus, there are old television broadcasts playing, such as that of Queen Elizabeth's coronation. The next section is dedicated to to telephones with speech converted to electrical pulses and back to speech. There are phones to pick up and listen to. Plus, a film of the last switchboard operated exchange going automatic in London (in 1970!). Next follows satellites, which communicate via super high-frequency waves. Although, this section really highlights how we're using maps today, even displaying one of the Google bikes used for mapping Google Earth. The fifth stage is the web of computer networks, which are utilizing electrical pulses, radio waves and optics. Mostly, though, it is dedicated to computers in general. There is a part of , a section of ENIAC (1943-45) as well as the first business oriented computer, a LEO I (1951). Finally, it ends with mobile phones using base stations in a "cell" pattern.

Astrolabe by Jalam al-Din ibn Muqim (1666)

Then, I crossed the threshold into a completely new exhibit on mathematics. It pulled me in with parts of Babbage's analytical engine (1834-71) and a PDP-8 computer (1965). Yet, there were more than just computers here. Surveying has longed used mathematics; and, there is a theodolite for surveying on display from 1828. Astronomy also uses applied mathematics, and astrolabes have been in use to read the sky for at least two thousand years! A beautiful astrolabe from 1666 hangs in a solitary case. In 1859, Harriet Martineau and Florence Nightingale published a book that pioneered a a way to look at war mortalities via a pie chart with the slices as stacked data. Some other mathematical items on display include a slide rule (1850s), an x-ray machine from a shoe seller (1950), a survivability predictor (1972) and, of course, an Enigma machine (1934).

Prosthetic arm for a pianist. padded fingers so that they won't click on the keys

It was about tea time for me. Yet, to get to the cafe, I had to pass by a portion of Henry Wellcome's medical collection, which was fascinating! The Wellcome Museum was on my list of museums to visit. Unfortunately, it was closed while we were in London. This little section in the Science Museum was all I was able to see of the curiosities.  They included such objects as a birthing chair (1900-30),  a bellows to blow tobacco spoke into a person to revive them, a prosthetic arm for a pianist with thumb and pinky finger exactly an octave apart (1904) and a fancy porcelain jar to hold leeches for blood-letting (1831-59).

15th century iron wall clock

After tea, I admired a special display of clocks and watches. The oldest clock is a crude, iron pre-cursor to a cuckoo clock, from the 15th century. The other pieces include a self-winding clock through the use of sulfuric acid and zinc pellets as well as many, many watches crafted with exquisite detail.

Visiting Information
The Science Museum is free and open to the public from 10 am - 6 pm daily, except December 24-26. Map of the museum