London Science Museum

Whenever I visit a city I have a look if there are any interesting science museums. In London we planned to go to the Natural History museum but during on trip in the underground we saw an advertisement for the Science Museum and the temporary exhibition of ZimingZhong, mainly British clockworks given to the Chinese Emperor as gifts by traders in the 18th century. Many things in London are quite expensive but most museums are free of charge and you can make a donation to sponsor them, minimum donation is 1 pound. We ended up donating 5 pounds each which was a cheap ticket considering how big the place is. We started our visit on the ground floor which covered the history of the steam engine and a smal section on space exploration. We skipped the classic game consoles in the basement as the gamer of the family was not with me. Probably our luck because you can play games on various old consoles so we could have spent hours in the basement alone. Then we went to see the section on medicine on the first floor which was quite big. On the second floor we perused the part that discussed the use of mathematics in e:g: architecture and communication network. By that time we had to head to the special exhibition on the ZimingZhong which was quite interesting. The stereotypical depictions of the oriental on some of these clocks was in some ways hilarious. But most people in Europe including the clock makers had no first hand knowledge about China and the Chinese and based themselves on second hand caricatures. Still, these caricatures were closer to the mark than the fabulous animals and monsters living in the orient according to books and maps from the thirteenth century for example. If you like the history of science I can definitely recommend this Science Museum. Large collection with quality exhibits and cheap as well.