Enough playing around and getting touristy shots (though honestly, just wait for the end of this blog post for some more because it's London and I won't stop!!!!), today was our very first academic day.
We went to the Royal Institution, which is a science organization. Back in the States I host a radio show with some co-workers and my nickname is "Sarah the Scientist" because in undergraduate I majored in Brain & Cognitive Sciences and am fond of all thing science--so safe to say, I was pretty thrilled to be getting a behind the scenes glimpse at their archives. Especially since it's somewhere the Queen has visited, twice!
Not to mention it was generally beautiful.
But also, they have over 1000 objects on display! There is 1 shelf mile of archives (I had never heard the term "shelf mile" before today, and honestly I'm newly obsessed)! Ten (10!) chemical elements were discovered in that very building, including some big ones like potassium, sodium, & chlorine!!!
Our tour started with the wonderful guide Frank James giving us the background and history of the Institution. It was founded in 1799 by Joseph Banks. Its initial goals were 1) To ensure that science was a safe political activity and 2) for science to expand and help the country after the loss of the 13 Colonies--after all, the British Navy lost to the French Navy, so they wanted to make sure that never happened again.
As for the building itself, it used to be a gentleman's townhouse and was converted. Their lease runs out in 3921, so they're not too worried about that.
The original version of this theater had a capacity of 1000! It became operational in 1801, until 1927 when there was an explosion. It was rebuilt to house 440 people instead and has been the home of more than 60,000 lectures by virtually every scientist over the last two centuries.
One of those lectures was given by James Dewar in 1904. He demonstrated his invention, liquid hydrogen. Notice in the painting the images he has on the wall above him--before powerpoint, this was the next best thing! In order to give the talk, he had to draw and write out his information on big sheets to display.
Mining for coal was necessary for a country's well-being and growth--but it was very unsafe. In a coal mine, the methane gas would combine with the flame and heat of the lanterns the miners carried, and explosions were the result. Humphry Davy put his mind to work and created the lamps pictured. They prevented the very deadly explosions by adding the feature of metal gauze around the flame. This allowed light to pass through, making them functional, but the gauze absorbed the heat and stopped it from interacting with the gas. Overall this led to more coal production because the miners could go deeper into the mines and this helped very much with the Industrial Revolution.
However, George Stephenson also came up with this idea. There is a bit of a rivalry between the two and wondering who truly invented the lamp. After some research by the RI, they discovered that two-thirds of the miners had used the Davy lamp, and one-third had used the Stephenson lamp. This isn't definitive on who invented it--but it's alright, because Stephenson gave up on the lamps and the rivalry and went on to invent steam locomotion.
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The future direction of the RI is not as focused on research. There isn't a lot of space that research typically requires nowadays. The Royal Institute is moving towards public engagement & education, especially for children. There was a goal of making science accessible for everyone--and really, that notion of accessibility is really what this field is all about.
And since I can't resist, here are a few tourist shots from the day:
That's all for now! Thanks for reading!
We went to the Royal Institution, which is a science organization. Back in the States I host a radio show with some co-workers and my nickname is "Sarah the Scientist" because in undergraduate I majored in Brain & Cognitive Sciences and am fond of all thing science--so safe to say, I was pretty thrilled to be getting a behind the scenes glimpse at their archives. Especially since it's somewhere the Queen has visited, twice!
Not to mention it was generally beautiful.
But also, they have over 1000 objects on display! There is 1 shelf mile of archives (I had never heard the term "shelf mile" before today, and honestly I'm newly obsessed)! Ten (10!) chemical elements were discovered in that very building, including some big ones like potassium, sodium, & chlorine!!!
Our tour started with the wonderful guide Frank James giving us the background and history of the Institution. It was founded in 1799 by Joseph Banks. Its initial goals were 1) To ensure that science was a safe political activity and 2) for science to expand and help the country after the loss of the 13 Colonies--after all, the British Navy lost to the French Navy, so they wanted to make sure that never happened again.
As for the building itself, it used to be a gentleman's townhouse and was converted. Their lease runs out in 3921, so they're not too worried about that.
The original version of this theater had a capacity of 1000! It became operational in 1801, until 1927 when there was an explosion. It was rebuilt to house 440 people instead and has been the home of more than 60,000 lectures by virtually every scientist over the last two centuries.
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| James Dewar & the invention of liquid hydrogen |
One of those lectures was given by James Dewar in 1904. He demonstrated his invention, liquid hydrogen. Notice in the painting the images he has on the wall above him--before powerpoint, this was the next best thing! In order to give the talk, he had to draw and write out his information on big sheets to display.
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| This area was the only original framework from the 18th century--everything else has since been redone. |
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| John Tyndall's germ box--it's made of wood, so it's hard for them to keep safe and happy in their archives over time! He used this box to put stuff in (like urine and other fun things) to see if they would grow anything. |
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| Top: Humphry Davy's miner safety lamps. Bottom: George Stephenson's miner safety lamps. |
However, George Stephenson also came up with this idea. There is a bit of a rivalry between the two and wondering who truly invented the lamp. After some research by the RI, they discovered that two-thirds of the miners had used the Davy lamp, and one-third had used the Stephenson lamp. This isn't definitive on who invented it--but it's alright, because Stephenson gave up on the lamps and the rivalry and went on to invent steam locomotion.
~
The future direction of the RI is not as focused on research. There isn't a lot of space that research typically requires nowadays. The Royal Institute is moving towards public engagement & education, especially for children. There was a goal of making science accessible for everyone--and really, that notion of accessibility is really what this field is all about.
And since I can't resist, here are a few tourist shots from the day:
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| Yes, I went back to Trafalgar Square and the lions. No, I'm not sorry. |
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| Allies Statue! I'm getting my hair sniffed by Churchill as FDR looks longingly into my eyes. |
That's all for now! Thanks for reading!
OMG SCIENCE ARCHIVES!!! If I could choose only ONE professional librarian position for life it would be a Science Archivist... The Smithsonian also has some real bombdiggity stuff. Can you imagine how many un-anesthetized surgical procedures were done in that auditorium!? Lol. #socool
ReplyDeleteI THOUGHT OF YOU BAE, with your cool medical photography skills!
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