Property: Science
Museum
Board: London - Here and Now Limited
Edition (2005)
Colour:
Orange
Original 1935
Property: St James Place
Detailsof Property:
Wikipedia [visit link]
tells us:
" The Science Museum is one of the
three major museums on Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London in the Royal
Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is part of the National Museum of Science
and Industry. The museum is a major London tourist attraction.
Like other publicly funded national
museums in the United Kingdom, the Science Museum does not levy an admission
charge. Temporary exhibitions, however, do usually incur an admission
fee.
A museum was founded in 1857 under
Bennet Woodcroft from the collection of the Royal Society of Arts and surplus
items from the Great Exhibition as part of the South Kensington Museum, together
with what is now the Victoria and Albert Museum. It included a collection of
machinery which became the Museum of Patents in 1858, and the Patent Office
Museum in 1863. This collection contained many of the most famous exhibits of
what is now the Science Museum. In 1883, the contents of the Patent Office
Museum were transferred to the South Kensington Museum. In 1885, the Science
Collections were renamed the Science Museum and in 1893 a separate director was
appointed. The Art Collections were renamed the Art Museum, which eventually
became the Victoria and Albert Museum.
When Queen Victoria laid the
foundation stone for the new building for the Art Museum, she stipulated that
the museum be renamed after herself and her late husband. This was initially
applied to the whole museum, but when that new building finally opened ten years
later, the title was confined to the Art Collections and the Science Collections
had to be divorced from it. On June 26, 1909 the Science Museum, as an
independent entity, came into existence. The Science Museum’s present quarters,
designed by Sir Richard Allison, were opened to the public in stages over the
period 1919–28. This building was known as the East Block, construction of which
began in 1913 and temporarily halted by World War I. As the name suggests it was
intended to be the first building of a much larger project, which was never
realised.
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 latter, preserved half brain), the first prototype of
the 10,000-year Clock of the Long Now, and documentation of the first
typewriter. It also contains hundreds of interactive exhibits. A recent addition
is the IMAX 3D Cinema showing science and nature documentaries, most of them in
3-D, and the Wellcome Wing which focuses on digital technology. Entrance has
been free since 1 December 2001.
The museum houses some of the many
objects collected by Henry Wellcome around a medical theme. The fourth floor
exhibit is called "Glimpses of Medical History", with reconstructions and
dioramas of the history of practiced medicine. The fifth floor gallery is called
"Science and the Art of Medicine", with exhibits of medical instruments and
practices from ancient days and from many countries. The collection is strong in
clinical medicine, biosciences and public health. The museum is a member of the
London Museums of Health & Medicine.
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 worldwide. It has for a number of years
been run in conjunction with the Library of Imperial College, but in 2007 the
Library was divided over two sites. Histories of science and biographies of
scientists are still kept at the Imperial College in London. The rest of the
collection which includes original scientific works and archives are now located
in Wroughton, Wiltshire.
The Science Museum's medical
collections have a global scope and coverage. Strengths include Clinical
Medicine, Biosciences and Public Health. The new Wellcome Wing, with its focus
on Bioscience, makes the Museum a leading world centre for the presentation of
contemporary science to the public.
Some 170,000 items which are not on
current display are stored at Blythe House in West Kensington. Blythe House also
houses facilities including a conservation laboratory, a photographic studio,
and a quarantine area where newly arrived items are examined."
Board link: Wikipedia.