London Science Museum

Today we visited the London Science Museum. And what a terrific experience!

We set off at 9:30am and caught the rainbow bus in the centre of Windsor which took us in to Kensington. It's only a hour journey in to the Royal Albert Hall. From there we had only a 10 minute walk to the museum. The bus certainly is a far better option than the train when heading in to Kensington.

The museum itself is free to enter. It has five floors of amazing displays. Most are interactive. And for the children, the basement has a discovery centre that is geared towards learning through involvement. James just loved it. He ran about playing with the exhibits such as a dynamo to make lights turn on, a helicopter that turns when the tail rotor slows, and even a light sensitive wall that captures your shadow when a flash fires. What fun!

One of his favourites (and mine) was the rocket hall. There were real rockets (such as the black arrow), engines, satellites, and lots of models. James delcared he was "very happy" and told me his favourite rocket for the day was the Space Shuttle. The highlight for me was the Apollo 10 command module. I really didn't expect to see this outside of the Smithsonian or perhaps Kennedy Space Center. I found a link to a photo taken when recovering the capsule after splashdown.

Another favourite of mine was the history of the computer (no suprise there)! I saw a TI99-4A (my first computer) for the first time in decades. Not to mention a ZX80 and Cray-1 supercomputer. And for my Dad - I've even snapped a photo of an old dentist thingy (you know - drill, basin, suction....).

Another of James' favourites was the nautical exhibit. There were models of boats, some real equipment (such as gyro compass), and a recreation of a ship's bridge. James, of course, had to steer.

The Museum has many other exhibits such as mechanical, materials, mathematics, genetics, and energy. There was of course so much to see. We spent about three hours there before returning home to Winsor at about 2pm. James was so exhausted he slept all the way home.

It is so easy to get too and so much fun for the little ones. Merrilyn will be back with James and some of his friends the next cold wet winter day.

Here are the photos.