Science Museum

I visited the Science Museum on July 5th as a part of my exploration of the three large museums (Natural History, Science, V&A) all located near each other on Cromwell Road. The line to get in was much shorter than the one for the Natural History Museum, so I was one of the first few people to actually enter that day, which was nice. After walking through the first few exhibits on the ground floor, I was already convinced that the Science Museum was far superior to the Natural History Museum I visited the previous day. I was determined that this feeling was ultimately subject related; the Science Museum had a lot more engineering (especially mechanical) related models, displays, and exhibits that I found a lot more interesting.

My favorite exhibit was probably the “Making of the Modern World” on the ground floor. You essentially walk through the room starting at one time period and end up at present day, all while viewing hundreds of devices and inventions of those periods. It was very cool to be able to see the progression of computers, factories, cars, locomotives, and so much more. At the end of the exhibit, you are really able to admire how much work was put into the scientific and technological advancement that we so often take for granted every day. There was also a model walkway just above the ground floor that also showed progression of trains, buses, gears, and miscellaneous apparatuses over time, which also appealed to my mechanical engineering background and allowed me to associate real life applications to the concepts I have been learning about at State.

The museum would undoubtedly appeal to many other fields of engineering, from materials science to bio-medical to aerospace. The museum seemed to have every aspect of science covered in their exhibits and they did a great job communicating the related information as well. I never felt like I was missing information that would be helpful to understand a display, which differed from the Natural History Museum, in my opinion. Overall, I would highly recommend anyone with an interest in engineering to visit the Science Museum, as it is filled to the brim with diverse, unique, and interesting exhibits and displays that will amaze you and give you an appreciation of the world as we see it today. I may even return for a second trip, because I’m sure that I missed a few exhibits that I would enjoy observing. ~Tyler

I have been to the Science Museum in Raleigh once when I was much younger, so I do not remember much about it. I am not sure how it compares, but I am interested to go back to the Raleigh museum after seeing this Science Museum in London. The Science Museum in London is just down the street from the apartment, only about a 15 minute walk. There are some exhibits which cost money to see, but the large portion of the museum is free. 

My favorite two exhibits were the math and clock sections, which surprised me. There were many old calculators and computers displayed which were once used for derivations, integration and wave calculations. There was also a display with 4-D Möbius strips, which was cool to see after learning about them and making smaller ones in Calculus. I was surprised at how much interest I had in the clocks. There are so many intricate parts moving, whether a pendulum, or a ball, or a wheel. 

Another great part of going to the Science Museum was going with other engineers. We were all interested in similar things and amazed by how far technology has come in planes, telephones, medicine, and materials. We were able to see so many technologies which shaped the world we live in today. Exploring the museum for two hours was enough time to see a majority of the exhibits, but I probably could've spent another hour reading more plaques and seeing more exhibits. The museum gave me a new appreciation for the technology we have and innovations that are being worked on currently.~Sedona