53-702: Exhibition Road is a street in South Kensington , London which is home to several major museums and academic establishments, including the Victoria and Albert Museum , the Science Museum and the Natural History Museum . The road gets its name from the Great Exhibition of 1851, which was held just inside Hyde Park at the northern end of the road. After the central road in the area, Queen's Gate , it
106-574: A chain. Residents have included: Science Museum, London The Science Museum is a major museum on Exhibition Road in South Kensington , London. It was founded in 1857 and is one of the city's major tourist attractions, attracting 3.3 million visitors annually in 2019. Like other publicly funded national museums in the United Kingdom, the Science Museum does not charge visitors for admission, although visitors are requested to make
159-706: A collection of machinery which became the Museum of Patents in 1858, and the Patent Office Museum in 1863. This collection contained many of the most famous exhibits of what is now the Science Museum. In 1883, the contents of the Patent Office Museum were transferred to the South Kensington Museum. In 1885, the Science Collections were renamed the Science Museum and in 1893 a separate director
212-592: A donation if they are able. Temporary exhibitions may incur an admission fee. It is one of the five museums in the Science Museum Group . The museum was founded in 1857 under Bennet Woodcroft from the collection of the Royal Society of Arts and surplus items from the Great Exhibition as part of the South Kensington Museum , together with what is now the Victoria and Albert Museum . It included
265-418: A scientific twist". Up to 380 children aged between 7 and 11, accompanied by adults, are invited to spend an evening performing fun "science based" activities and then spend the night sleeping in the museum galleries amongst the exhibits. In the morning, they're woken to breakfast and more science, watching a show before the end of the event. On the evening of the last Wednesday of every month (except December)
318-578: A screen measuring 24.3 by 16.8 metres, with both a dual IMAX with Laser projection system and a traditional IMAX 15/70mm film projector, and an IMAX 12-channel sound system. Visitors to the Who Am I? gallery can explore the science of who they are through intriguing objects, provocative artworks and hands-on exhibits. Energy Revolution: The Adani Green Energy Gallery explores how the world can generate and use energy more sustainably to urgently reduce carbon dioxide emissions from global energy systems and limit
371-441: A six-day siege during which one of the hostages was killed. The British SAS finally stormed the building in a 17-minute operation, bringing out the hostages and the one surviving gunman who was subsequently sentenced to 27 years in prison for his part in the offences. The first church to rise among the fields at Brompton was the socially notable, but widely considered architecturally ugly, Holy Trinity Brompton in 1829. It served
424-458: A timeline chronicling man's technological achievements. A V-2 rocket , designed by German rocket scientist Wernher von Braun , is displayed in this gallery. Doug Millard, space historian and curator of space technology at the museum, states: "We got to the Moon using V-2 technology but this was technology that was developed with massive resources, including some particularly grim ones. The V-2 programme
477-566: A wide area from the Kensington Canal in the west to the Kensington Turnpike in the north. The first incumbent, one Percival Frye, just happened to be the nephew of Archdeacon Alfred Pott , vicar of the neighbouring Kensington parish. It was followed by: The area is the subject of Donovan 's song "Sunny South Kensington", about the area's reputation as the hip part of London in the 1960s. Roman Polanski 's film, Repulsion (1965)
530-483: Is furthermore criss-crossed by the Exhibition Road and the stately Queen's Gate and Prince Consort Road . Until road lay-out improvements in 2012, the area was afflicted with traffic congestion and likened to a series of traffic islands. Modern development of the area is the result of the creation of the temporary Albertopolis reached by Exhibition Road, whose terrain now includes the Natural History Museum ,
583-510: Is not 'greenwash'". There have been protests against the sponsorship; in May 2021, a group calling themselves 'Scientists for XR' ( Extinction Rebellion ) locked themselves to a mechanical tree inside the museum. The UK Student Climate Network carried out an overnight occupation in June 2021, and were threatened with arrest. In August 2021, members of Extinction Rebellion held a protest inside and outside
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#1732844299292636-618: Is one of the funding partners of the museum's STEM Training Academy. Equinor's sponsorship of the Wonderlab exhibit was on the basis that the Science Museum would not make any statement to damage the oil firm's reputation. Shell has influenced how the museum presents climate change in its programme sponsored by the oil company. The museum has signed a gagging clause in its agreement with Shell not to "make any statement or issue any publicity or otherwise be involved in any conduct or matter that may reasonably be foreseen as discrediting or damaging
689-460: Is the second thoroughfare in what was once Albertopolis . It provides access to many nationally significant institutions, including: A design competition for plans of how to improve the street's design to reflect its cultural importance was held in 2003 by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea . The competition was won by the architectural firm Dixon Jones for a shared space scheme for
742-762: The Alliance française , as well as the Consulate General of France, not far from the French Embassy in Knightsbridge . With a French bookshop and many international cafés in the area, it has been called "Paris's 21st arrondissement". In April and May 1980 a group of six Iranian Arabs entered the Iranian Embassy in South Kensington and took the staff, visitors and a diplomatic policeman hostage. There followed
795-719: The First World War it has become a cosmopolitan area attracting Belgian and French refugees, but also Poles during the Second World War and after, as well as latterly Spanish, Italian, and American expatriates. Some residents also have a Middle Eastern origin. The French presence is emphasised by the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle , the French Institute , housing a theatre now used as the Ciné Lumière with nearby
848-834: The Geological Museum , the Science Museum , the Victoria and Albert Museum, London Oratory and since 1915, the Lycée Français . Other local institutions include the Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum , Polish Hearth Club , London Goethe-Institut , the Royal Albert Hall , Imperial College London , the Royal Geographical Society , the Royal College of Art , the Royal College of Music and between 1903 and 1991,
901-603: The National Collections Centre , at the Science Museum Wroughton, in Wiltshire. The Science Museum has a dedicated library, and until the 1960s was Britain's National Library for Science, Medicine and Technology. It holds runs of periodicals, early books and manuscripts, and is used by scholars worldwide. It was, for a number of years, run in conjunction with the library of Imperial College , but in 2007
954-555: The Royal College of Organists there. The market gardens of the rural area began to make way for a series of hospitals, such as the Brompton Hospital and the New Cancer Hospital along nearby Fulham Road. Adjacent landowners began to develop the land in the 1860s as a result of the transport hub and the general urbanisation boom west of London, and led to the eventual absorption of Brompton and its station into Kensington. It
1007-582: The Royal College of Organists , West London Air Terminal , the Ismaili Centre, London and the late comer 1960s Baden-Powell House some of which are administratively within the City of Westminster , but considered to be "within range of South Kensington". Although the SW7 postcode mainly covers South Kensington, it goes into Knightsbridge . The only Royal Mail Post Office in South Kensington closed in 2019. Following
1060-538: The Victoria and Albert Museum ). To the north is the Kensington Gore , to the south the winding Fulham Road and streets leading to Sloane Square and to the west, the residential and hotel area of Gloucester Road . South Kensington station lies on the junction of several thoroughfares: principally the Old Brompton Road , Harrington Road and Pelham Street and a stone's throw from the arterial Cromwell Road . It
1113-502: The oldest surviving James Watt beam engine , which together tell the story of the British Industrial Revolution . Also on display is a recreation of James Watt's garret workshop from his home, Heathfield Hall , using over 8,300 objects removed from the room, which was sealed after his 1819 death, when the hall was demolished in 1927. Exploring Space is a historical gallery, filled with rockets and exhibits that tell
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#17328442992921166-527: The 1851 Great Exhibition in Hyde Park , an 87-acre (35 ha) area, west of what is now Exhibition Road, was purchased by the commissioners of the exhibition, in order to create a base for institutions dedicated to the arts and sciences, leading to the foundation of the Royal Albert Hall , three museums, the Royal School of Mines later a world renowned technological university, the Royal College of Music and
1219-658: The Cromwell Road. In 1906 the new Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway company opened the Brompton Road tube station in the vicinity, thus adding a link directly to the political, commercial and financial heart of the capital in Westminster , the West End and the City of London , but owing to under use, it was shut in 1934. During the Second World War it was used by the 26th (London) Anti-Aircraft Brigade . Since
1272-515: The Science Museum's history. While it is not a chronological history in the conventional sense, the first five chapters cover the history of the museum from the Brompton Boilers in the 1860s to the opening of the Wellcome Wing in 2000. The remaining eight chapters cover a variety of themes concerning the museum's development. The Science Museum consists of two buildings – the main building and
1325-574: The Wellcome Wing. Visitors enter the main building from Exhibition Road, while the Wellcome Wing is accessed by walking through the Energy Hall, Exploring Space and then the Making the Modern World galleries (see below) at ground floor level. The Energy Hall is the first area that most visitors see as they enter the building. On the ground floor, the gallery contains a variety of steam engines , including
1378-552: The Worshipful Company of Clockmakers in London's Guildhall . The Science City 1550–1800: The Linbury Gallery shows how London grew to be a global hub for trade, commerce and scientific enquiry. The Mathematics: The Winton Gallery examines the role that mathematicians have had in building our modern world. In the landing area to access the gallery (stair C) is a working example of Charles Babbage 's Difference engine No.2. This
1431-597: The construction of the Wellcome Wing in 2000 result in the museum now extending to Queen's Gate . The leading academic publisher, Palgrave Macmillan, published the official centenary history of the Science Museum on 14 April 2010. The first complete history of the Science Museum since 1957, Science for the Nation: Perspectives on the History of the Science Museum is a series of individual views by Science Museum staff and external academic historians of different aspects of
1484-414: The development of flight in the 20th century. Contained in the gallery are several full sized aeroplanes and helicopters , including Alcock and Brown 's transatlantic Vickers Vimy (1919), Spitfire and Hurricane fighters, as well as numerous aero-engines and a cross-section of a Boeing 747 . It opened in 1963 and was refurbished in the 1990s. Power Up is an interactive gaming gallery showcasing
1537-510: The goodwill or reputation" of Shell. The museum signed a sponsorship contract with the Norwegian oil and gas company Equinor which contained a gagging clause, stating the museum would not say anything that could damage the fossil fuel company's reputation. The museum's director, Ian Blatchford , defended the museum's sponsorship policy, saying: "Even if the Science Museum were lavishly publicly funded I would still want to have sponsorship from
1590-539: The history of video games and consoles from the past 50 years. Visitors can play on over 150 consoles, featuring consoles from the Binatone TV Master to the Play Station 5 . The Tomorrow's World gallery hosts topical science stories and free exhibitions including: The IMAX: The Ronson Theatre is an IMAX cinema which shows educational films (most in 3-D), as well as blockbusters and live events. It features
1643-606: The impact of climate change. The museum has some dedicated spaces for temporary exhibitions (both free and paid-for) and displays, on Level -1 (Basement Gallery), Level 0 (inside the Exploring Space Gallery and Tomorrow's World), Level 1 (Special Exhibition Gallery 1) and Level 2 (Special Exhibition Gallery 2 and The Studio). Most of these travel to other Science Museum Group sites, as well as nationally and internationally. Past exhibitions have included: The Science Museum organises Astronights , "all-night extravaganza with
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1696-663: The library was divided over two sites. Histories of science and biographies of scientists were kept at the Imperial College Library until February 2014 when the arrangement was terminated, the shelves were cleared and the books and journals shipped out, joining the rest of the collection, which includes original scientific works and archives at the National Collections Centre. Dana Research Centre and Library previously an event space and cafe, reopened in its current form in 2015. Open to researchers and members of
1749-401: The locale, with reported conflict between motor vehicles and pedestrians due to the unified surface design across Exhibition Road. South Kensington South Kensington is a district just west of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea . Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton . Its name was supplanted with the advent of
1802-600: The museum organises an adults only evening with up to 30 events, from lectures to silent discos. Previous Lates have seen conversations with the actress activist Lily Cole and Biorevolutions with the Francis Crick Institute which attracted around 7000 people, mostly under the age of 35. In October 2007, the Science Museum cancelled a talk by the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA, James D. Watson , because he claimed that IQ test results showed black people to have lower intelligence than white people. The decision
1855-568: The museum promising to boycott it following sponsorship of the museum's Energy Revolution exhibition by the coal mining company Adani . The directors of the South Kensington Museum were: The directors of the Science Museum have been: The following have been head/director of the Science Museum in London, not including its satellite museums: The following have been directors of the National Museum of Science and Industry , (since April 2012 renamed
1908-417: The museum with a 12 ft (3.7 m) pink dodo. In 2021, Chris Rapley, a climate scientist, resigned from the museum's advisory board because of oil and gas company sponsorship. In 2021, more than 40 senior academics and scientists said they would not work with the Science Museum due to its financial relationships with the fossil fuel industry. In 2022, more than 400 teachers signed an open letter to
1961-463: The objects on display come from the Wellcome Collection started by Henry Wellcome . One of the commissioned artworks is a large bronze sculpture of Rick Genest titled Self-Conscious Gene by Marc Quinn . The galleries occupy the museum's entire first floor and opened on 16 November 2019. The Clockmakers Museum is the world's oldest clock and watch museum which was originally assembled by
2014-527: The oil companies." Scientists for Global Responsibility called the museum's move "staggeringly out-of-step and irresponsible". Some presenters, including George Monbiot , pulled out of climate talks on finding they were sponsored by BP and the Norwegian oil company Equinor . Bob Ward of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment said the "carbon capture exhibition
2067-440: The public, it allows free access to almost 7,000 volumes, which can be consulted on site. The Science Museum has been sponsored by major organisations including Shell , BP , Samsung and GlaxoSmithKline . Some have been controversial. The museum declined to give details of how much it receives from oil and gas sponsors. Equinor is also the title sponsor of "Wonderlab: The Equinor Gallery", an exhibition for children, while BP
2120-427: The railways in the late 19th century and the opening (and shutting) and naming of local tube stations. The area has many museums and cultural landmarks with a high number of visitors, such as the Natural History Museum , the Science Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum . Adjacent affluent centres such as Knightsbridge , Chelsea and Kensington , have been considered as some of the most exclusive real estate in
2173-409: The road and surrounding streets which would give pedestrians greater priority whilst still allow some vehicular traffic at a reduced speed. The project also aimed to improve the artistic and architectural merit of the streetscape. The scheme was completed ahead of the 2012 London Olympics . Since the completion of the revised streetscape, its design has been criticised for increasing the accident rate in
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2226-447: The story of human space exploration and the benefits that space exploration has brought us (particularly in the world of telecommunications). Making the Modern World displays some of the museum's most remarkable objects, including Puffing Billy (the oldest surviving steam locomotive), Crick's double helix , and the command module from the Apollo 10 mission, which are displayed along
2279-518: The title was confined to the Art Collections and the Science Collections had to be divorced from it. On 26 June 1909 the Science Museum, as an independent entity, came into existence. The Science Museum's present quarters, designed by Sir Richard Allison , were opened to the public in stages over the period 1919–28. This building was known as the East Block, construction of which began in 1913 and
2332-439: The world. As is often the case in other areas of London, the boundaries for South Kensington are arbitrary and have altered with time. This is due in part to usage arising from the tube stops and other landmarks which developed across Brompton. A contemporary definition is the commercial area around the South Kensington tube station and the adjacent garden squares and streets (such as Onslow Square and Thurloe Square , opposite
2385-505: Was appointed. The Art Collections were renamed the Art Museum , which eventually became the Victoria and Albert Museum. When Queen Victoria laid the foundation stone for the new building for the Art Museum, she stipulated that the museum be renamed after herself and her late husband . This was initially applied to the whole museum, but when that new building finally opened ten years later,
2438-456: Was built by the Science Museum and its main part completed in 1991, to celebrate 200 years since Babbage's birth, and was designed by Zaha Hadid Architects . The Information Age gallery has exhibits covering the development of communications and computing over the last two centuries. It explores the six networks that have transformed global communications: The Cable, The Telephone Exchange, Broadcast, The Constellation, The Cell and The Web It
2491-547: Was criticised by some scientists, including Richard Dawkins , but supported by other scientists, including Steven Rose . The museum has undergone many changes in its history with older galleries being replaced by new ones. Blythe House, 1979–2019, the museum's former storage facility in West Kensington , while not a gallery, it offered tours of the collections housed there. Objects formerly housed there are being transferred to
2544-483: Was due in part to a considerable decrease in sales between 2015 and 2016 in addition to the company expanding its online presence. Tim Waterstone opened his first eponymous Waterstones bookshop in 1982 in Old Brompton Road. It has given way to a Little Waitrose . Caffè Nero also started life as a single coffee shop in Old Brompton Road, opened by Ian Semp in 1990. It was subsequently bought out and became
2597-703: Was hugely expensive in terms of lives, with the Nazis using slave labour to manufacture these rockets". Stephenson's Rocket used to be displayed in this gallery. After a short UK tour, since 2019 Rocket is on permanent display at the National Railway Museum in York, in the Art Gallery. The Medicine: The Wellcome Galleries is a five-gallery medical exhibition which spans ancient history to modern times with over 3000 exhibits and specially commissioned artworks. Many of
2650-462: Was opened on 24 October 2014 by the Queen, Elizabeth II , who sent her first tweet from here. One of the most popular galleries in the museum is the interactive Wonderlab:The Equinor Gallery , formerly called Launchpad . The gallery is staffed by Explainers who demonstrate how exhibits work, conduct live experiments and perform shows to schools and the visiting public. The Flight gallery charts
2703-523: Was partly filmed in South Kensington. Morgan cars , a British family-owned hand built sportscar company operates a main dealership out of Astwood Mews in South Kensington. Christie's auction house had a second London salesroom in the Old Brompton Road, South Kensington from 1975, which primarily handled the middle market. Christie's permanently closed the South Kensington salesroom in July 2017 as part of their restructuring plans announced March 2017. The closure
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#17328442992922756-464: Was sealed by the arrival of the Metropolitan and District Railways at Brompton, but for public relations reasons, it was re-named "South Kensington" in 1868. To facilitate public access to the museums, the railway company built a pedestrian tunnel directly from the station concourse to an exit halfway up Exhibition Road, next to the now defunct Royal Mail sorting office, to avoid crowds having to cross
2809-554: Was temporarily halted by World War I . As the name suggests it was intended to be the first building of a much larger project, which was never realized. However, the museum buildings were expanded over the following years; a pioneering Children's Gallery with interactive exhibits opened in 1931, the Centre Block was completed in 1961–3, the infill of the East Block and the construction of the Lower & Upper Wellcome Galleries in 1980, and
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