Science Museum Centenary

X-Ray, electric telegraph, and the Model-T Ford

The Science Museum in London has always been one of my favourite places to spend a rainy afternoon. As well as housing some of the country’s most fascinating science-related exhibits, it’s always been ahead of the game when it comes to interaction, and I’ve promised myself a visit next time I’m in the big smoke just to check out Force Field, an astronaut simulator that recreates the experience of riding a Saturn V rocket.

The museum is currently celebrating its centenary, and curators have chosen ten objects from its collection to represent the impact science has had on our lives. It’s a great list, eschewing cliched choices such as mobile phones in favour of the likes of the electric telegraph (Morse’s version pictured above) and the groundbreaking Pilot Ace computer. The winner, chosen by public vote, was the X-Ray machine, first pioneered by German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen in 1895.

You can read the whole list on the museum’s site here.