Science Museum

With seven floors of interactive and educational exhibits, the Science Museum is informative, entertaining and comprehensive. Be advised that it is slated to undergo a massive modernisation costing £150 million. Parts or all of the museum may be closed when you visit so call or check the website beforehand. The Energy Hall, on the ground floor as you enter, concentrates on full-sized machines of the Industrial Revolution, showing how the first steam engines such as Puffing Billy, a steam locomotive dating from 1813, helped Britain become ‘the workshop of the world’ in the early 19th century. Animations show how the machines worked and are accompanied by detailed overall explanations, including a section on the Luddites who opposed the march of technology. Of course, it’s impossible to miss the Energy Ring, a huge interactive sculpture that hangs in the space next to the gallery called Energy: Fuelling the Future on the 2nd floor. Kids can enter their names then ask energy questions: the answers appear like electronic tickertape messages, running around the inside of the ring. On the same level you will also find a re-creation of Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine (1834), now considered the forerunner to the computer. The 3rd-floor Flight and Launchpad galleries are favourite places for children, with its gliders, hot-air balloon and varied aircraft, including the Gipsy Moth, in which Amy Johnson flew to Australia in 1930. This floor also features an adapted flight simulator that’s been turned into a ‘Motionride’ (admission fees apply). The 1st floor has displays on food and time, while the 4th and 5th floors offer exhibits on medical and veterinary history. Nostalgic parents will delight in the old cars and the Apollo 10 command module in the Making the Modern World gallery on the ground floor. However, both they and their children will probably most enjoy the hi-tech Wellcome Wing, which is spread over several floors at the back of the building. IMAX Cinema here shows the usual crop of travelogues, space adventures and dinosaur attacks in stunning 3-D. There’s a super-lative exploration of identity on the 1st floor entitled Who am I? as well as other hands-on displays for children.