When I was young one
of the things that I looked forward to most eagerly when the school holidays
started in July were the day trips to London, at least one of which would
include a visit to a museum. Over the years my parents and I visited most of
London's museums; the Imperial War Museum, the British Museum, the Victoria and
Albert (pretty low on my list of favourites), the Natural History Museum, the
London Transport Museum and my all time favourite, the Science Museum (although
it must be said the London Transport Museum runs it pretty close!)
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| At the London Transport Museum. |
In those childhood days a trip to London began with a visit
to Rex Travel in Collier Row, a low slung, shed like building adjacent to what
was once the Rex Cinema but was then a Victor Value supermarket (it is now a
Tesco), to buy Red Rover tickets for our expedition. A long journey by bus and
tube would end at South Kensington and the Science Museum. Admission was free,
which made the visit both a bargain and educational, although the educational
element was coincidental to the entertainment and wonder of the exhibits.
Perhaps my favourites as a child were the models, some of which were
interactive; I loved turning the handles and pressing the buttons and seeing
things happen, but the whole of the Science Museum was filled with wonder.
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| One of the Science Museum's galleries. |
I have to admit that science is not one of my passions, but then
again the Science Museum is not simply about science, it is about the history
of the world and particularly Britain, through the instruments and objects, the
vehicles and devices, the gadgets and gizmos that man has created through the
ages and if there is one thing that small (and not so small) boys love, it is a
gadget! Last week I went back to the Science Museum for probably the first time
in 25 or 30 years and although the place is much changed, its appeal remains
undiminished. Admission is once again free (although some special exhibits
attract a charge), but as one enters there is the "opportunity" to
make a donation (£5 per adult is suggested), organised in such a way that one
would feel guilty for not doing so. There was a time when some of London's
museums made a formal admission charge, but these were scrapped in 2001. There
is a strong case for museums imposing admission charges; there are equally
strong arguments for them not to. On the whole it is preferable that they
remain free but that voluntary donations are encouraged if it means that
exhibits do not have to be sold off and that the quality and variety of
displays can be maintained.
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| The Exponential Horn is one of the Science Museum's current special exhibits. |
The models remain at the Science Museum (although the number
devoted to agriculture in general and tractors in particular seems somewhat
disproportionate) and the full scale trains, planes and automobiles are as
fascinating as they ever were. The computing and mathematics section is
absorbing, although several thoughts struck me as I wandered among the
exhibits. Here I was standing in front of Charles Babbage's Difference Engine
#2, one of the earliest computers, a machine that would fill my living room,
and around me there were people with small devices in their pockets and
hand-bags that were more powerful than Babbage's, from which they could summon
the total sum of knowledge possessed by mankind and yet what would most of them
do with these devices but look at
pictures of cats and argue with strangers?[1]
Another thought that struck me, and made me feel old, was that in the display
devoted to vintage adding machines and calculators there were machines that I
had actually used at work! It is somewhat disconcerting to see objects that one
has used fairly recently displayed in a museum.
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| Charles Babbage's Difference Engine #2 |
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| The adding machine in front and left looks suspiciously familiar! |
The familiar domestic appliances that are on display that
are so interesting. The toys and games that we remember vaguely and with
affection from our childhood but which have been superseded by more modern
contrivances fascinate, but some of the devices from more ancient times are
equally captivating. The centuries old microscopes, globes, orreries and clocks
are not only practical instruments but objects of great beauty as well.
As much as museums like the Science Museum bring history to
life, there is one thing that they lack; they do convey the weight of history. There are two places
that I have visited where I truly have felt that; one ancient and one more modern. For all that
it is a tourist trap, the site of the ancient town of Pompeii is somewhere that
it is possible to imagine that the residents have all just popped out for a while
and will be back shortly, that the ruts in the roadways will soon have carts
rumbling along them again. Pompeii has an atmosphere like no other place I have
visited; time travel may be impossible but to walk around Pompeii is as close
as we are likely to get.
More modern and even more deeply affecting is Pearl Harbor,
which of course is as much a memorial as it is a museum. A few years ago, while
on holiday in Hawaii, I took the opportunity to visit Pearl Harbor and the USS
Arizona Memorial and found it to be an incredibly moving experience. If you
ever have the chance to go I would recommend that you do so but it has to be
said that it is incredibly popular and very busy; if you go independently
arrive early! There are numerous organised tours that can be taken from
Honolulu but when we went we did so by public transport, which I would advocate
because the tours are expensive and although admission to the memorial is free,
donations are welcomed. If, like us, you have paid just a few dollars bus fare
to get there rather than a much larger tour fee, you will be inclined to donate
more generously to the upkeep of the memorial. For all that we might imagine
commercialisation to be all prevalent in the USA, the USS Arizona Memorial and
the other Pearl Harbor sites are part of the National Park Service and not a
money making machine. Many of the volunteer workers and guides are Pearl Harbor
veterans; it truly is a piece of living history and a place that I am grateful
to have had the chance to visit.
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| The USS Arizona Memorial |
British museums are actually enjoying a period of great
popularity; in 2013 the British Museum, National Gallery, Natural History Museum
and Science Museum attracted over 21 million people and all saw more visitors
than in the previous year.[2]
Museums are not just a place to go as a last resort to get out of the rain;
they are so much more than that and if you haven't visited one for a while, do
yourself a favour and see one soon. For my part I intend going to the Natural
History Museum again for the first time in the best part of thirty years!
[1]
Taken from an internet meme, the origins of which are probably lost, but an
instance of which may be found here: http://www.themachinestarts.com/read/2013-01-the-promise-of-technology
[2]
Source http://www.alva.org.uk/
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