The science museum in London

Abstract

The formation of a museum of science and industry in London was first proposed by the Prince Consort after the Great Exhibition of 1851. Various technical collections and educational apparatus which had been shown in that Exhibition were therefore retained to form the nucleus of such a museum. To house these and other scientific exhibits, a temporary iron hall was erected, which H.M. Queen Victoria opened to the public in June 1857. Seven years later a collection of ship models was added, and about the same time the exhibition was transferred to temporary premises on the present site. The collections of scientific instruments and apparatus were formed soon afterwards, and in 1883 the contents of the old Patent Museum were added. At that time the science and art collections were known as the South Kensington Museum, but in 1909 the art collections were separately housed in the Victoria and Albert Museum, and from that date the machinery, ship models and other scientific collections have formed the Science Museum. Some of the old halls built for the Exhibition of 1862 are still in use, but will ultimately be replaced with a modern structure, to comprise about 500,ooo sq. feet of floor area, basements included. Of its three main blocks, the Eastern Block alone has been completed, and this was opened in 1928 by H.M. King George V. The main entrance is in Exhibition Road, and open free to the public from IO A.M. until 6 P.M. Monday to Wednesday, until 8 P.M. Thursday to Saturday, and on Sundays from 2.30 to 6 P.M. From the marble floor of the entrance hall, an extensive view over the interior of the Eastern Block is obtained; this is indeed a technical museum on the heroic scale (Fig. I). On the left is the staircase to the upper floors, in the well of which is suspended