April | 2010 | Stories from the stores

Celebrating James Ferguson

April 29th, 2010 | by Alison Boyle, Curator of Astronomy and Modern Physics | astronomy

Apr
29

Walk into any museum curator’s office and you’ll encounter a mass of books and papers. It’s not that we’re messy – well okay, I am – but a lot of the material we use can’t always be found on the web. Even on Stories from the Stores.

One of my favourite books on my shelves is Astronomy Explained upon Sir Isaac Newton’s Principles by James Ferguson, who was born 300 years ago last Sunday. Published in 1785 (the first edition was 1756), it’s intended ‘for those who have not studied mathematics’ and contains beautifully illustrated explanations of how the Solar System works.

Ferguson in his study. (Science Museum)

Ferguson travelled around England giving lectures on natural philosophy. These were hugely popular, aided by the ingenious models he built to demonstrate scientific phenomena.

Ferguson's wooden orrery (c. 1755) uses hand-driven pulleys to demonstrate the motion of the Earth, Sun and Moon. (Science Museum)

Before moving to England and making his name as a lecturer, Ferguson lived in Edinburgh where he made a living as a miniature portrait painter. These pencil-and-ink miniatures show his talent:

Portrait miniatures made by Ferguson in the 18th century. (Science Museum)

And although you can’t find everything on the web that you can in a curator’s office, you can find out more about Ferguson for yourself by reading his autobiography here, and enjoy Astronomy Explained here.

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Take off, take your bike, and take the train

April 28th, 2010 | by David Rooney, Curator of Transport | road transport, transport

Apr
28

Last time, I talked about early cycling, and today’s attempts to recreate the glamour of the past. Most of the time, though, cycling is just a practical, cheap and straightforward way to get around.

What makes it more flexible is the ability to mix modes – to combine cycling with rail travel, car or boat. Jimmy Savile made the point usefully in this 1982 BR poster:

'Ride it by rail' poster, 1982 (NRM / Pictorial Collection / Science & Society)

That family looks like it’s off on holiday, but commuters can benefit from mixed-mode journeys too, and this is where the folding bike comes in very handy (as most commuter trains don’t allow full-sized bikes at peak times).

The Folding Society is a great source of information for anyone thinking of buying a folder, as there are many excellent examples available. One popular make is Brompton, whose work we have on show at the museum.

Brompton L3 bicycle, made 2000 (David Rooney)

Last week, I took a look round Brompton’s west-London factory. Its location rather reinforces my point about mixed-mode journeys, hemmed in as it is by the M4 elevated motorway and a triangle of roads and railway lines.

M4 elevated motorway, 19 April 2010 (David Rooney)

Inside, the factory is a hive of activity as the bespoke cycles are manufactured, assembled, tested and shipped.

Brompton bicycle factory, 19 April 2010 (David Rooney)

Outside, I returned to the nearby Underground station and made my way back to work. Cities are great places for getting around, and the beauty is in the flexibility.

On foot, by car, on the roads or by rail, we switch from one mode to the other depending on what works best – and more often than not it’s quicker by bike!

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The Tweed Run

April 26th, 2010 | by David Rooney, Curator of Transport | road transport, transport

Apr
26

As I’ve mentioned before, back in the Victorian age, the ‘ordinary’ bicycle, or penny-farthing, was the state of the art in cycle technology – and the height of fashion for brave men and women:

Lady and gentleman riding 'ordinary' cycles, 1874 (Science Museum / Science & Society)

As with most fashions, this one seems to have come around again. Earlier this month, 400 cyclists dressed in Edwardian and Victorian garb converged on London to take part in the twelve-mile 2010 Tweed Run.

I couldn’t make it myself, but judging by the many pictures on the web, these YouTube videos, and this Guardian write-up, it looks like a super time was had!

Whilst some chose to go retro in outfit alone, others took part on vintage machines too, including quite a few ordinaries.

The Science Museum has a splendid collection of about 150 bicycles, from the earliest days to the present. As we wait for next year’s Tweed Run, I thought you might like to see a few more of our historic machines…

Bayliss-Thomas ordinary bicycle, 1879 (Science Museum / Science & Society)

Windsor 'ordinary' bicycle, 1878 (Science Museum / Science & Society)

Singer 'Xtraordinary' bicycle, c.1884 (Science Museum / Science & Society)

These cycles, along with most of the rest of the collection, are in our store in Wiltshire. You can write to my Wroughton colleagues for an appointment if you want to study any of them, or if you want to see early cycles in historic context, come to the Science Museum and see the highlights.

Now, where did I put my plus-fours…

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150 years of the British Rainfall Organisation

April 23rd, 2010 | by Vicky Carroll, Curator of History of Science | weather

Apr
23

On Saturday I went to a conference commemorating the 150th anniversary of the foundation of the British Rainfall Organisation (BRO), organised by the history group of the Royal Meteorological Society. Here’s what I discovered…

The British Rainfall Organisation demonstrates the importance of networks in meteorology. It was founded in 1860 by George James Symons to coordinate rainfall observations by volunteers “of both sexes, all ages, and all classes”.

Symons was known as kind man, who was supportive of his volunteers and had a twinkle in his eye (Science Museum / Science & Society)

Every morning at 9am hundreds of observers across the country (by 1900 there were 3,408 stations in Symons’s network) scurried into their back garden to inspect their rain gauges. They sent their results back to Symons, who analysed them and published them in British Rainfall magazine. In 1919 the BRO was taken over by the Met Office (who now make some of their rainfall data available online). However, ‘amateur’ observers still make important contributions to meteorology today, and I met some of them at the conference.

This particular rain guage, made in 1818, belonged to the famous meteorologist Luke Howard (Science Museum / Science & Society)

Site inspections and other quality control measures are an important aspect of managing any observation network. During a talk about the present-day rainfall network, I found out what this shiny instrument in our collection is for.

A common issue with rain gauges is how exposed they are to wind, with very sheltered and very open sites both leading to inaccuracies. During a site inspection, this instrument is placed on top of the gauge and the domed surface reflects all the nearby obstacles – fences, hedges, buildings, etc. The scale allows exposure to be measured.

Clever. But everyone knows what the most useful, mushroom-like, rain-related instrument really is…

This print, produced around 1845, satirised the fashion for umbrellas (Science Museum / Science and Society)

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For she’s a jolly good Fellow

April 22nd, 2010 | by Alison Boyle, Curator of Astronomy and Modern Physics | astronomy, women in science

Apr
22

On Tuesday I attended our annual ‘Fellows of the Science Museum’ reception, in which we recognise the contributions of leading scientists and educators. This year we were particularly celebrating female scientists, with a speech from new Fellow Jocelyn Bell Burnell.

Jocelyn in 1968. (Science Museum)

In 1967, Jocelyn was a PhD student at the Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory in Cambridge. Her job was to analyse data from one of the telescopes for the characteristic twinkling of quasars. One day she noticed a ‘bit of scruff’ on the telescope’s charts and, rather than dismiss it as interference, decided to investigate further. It turned out to be a pulsed signal, always coming from the same patch of sky and repeating at regular intervals. For a short time, the Cambridge team had to consider the possibility that it was a signal from an alien civilisation – they jokingly dubbed it LGM-1, for Little Green Men.

The signal from the first pulsar appeared on the cover of Joy Division's 'Unknown Pleasures' LP. (Science Museum)

Jocelyn and her supervisor Antony Hewish (who’s also a Science Museum Fellow) soon detected signals from other parts of the sky and realised they had found a new class of cosmic object – a rapidly-spinning dense star. They are called pulsars and over 1800 are now known.

Part of Jocelyn’s telescope is on display in Cosmos & Culture. It might take you a while to spot it, as it doesn’t look anything like your average telescope:

The pulsar array is now retired. During use, sheep kept the 4 acres of grass neatly trimmed. (Alison Boyle)

Jocelyn was recently the subject of the BBC’s Beautiful Minds. Beauty is the theme of next Wednesday’s Science Museum Lates, and Jocelyn will be there talking about her work and inspirations. Hope to see you there!

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