LONDON WEEKEND BREAKS - London Science Museum

The Science Museum has its roots in the Great Exhibition of 1851. This exhibition and the public interest that it generated proved the catalyst for the museum itself which was opened in 1857 on the site that is now occupied by the Victoria and Albert Museum.

The Science Museum is divided up into galleries, of which there are a great number, and each gallery explores a specific area of science. The galleries fall into the categories of those featuring physical exhibits and those where the emphasis is on interaction.

The main galleries are those which are object based and they cover themes ranging from Energy, Flight and Space, to Time Measurement, Computing and Medicine. In all there are twenty four of these object or exhibit halls and they make up the greater part of the museum.

The interactive galleries, which the museum now calls the hand-on galleries, have various feature that allow visitors to take part in, or initiate a process that is part of, a particular exhibit. There are nine of these hands-on galleries and they prove very popular with the younger visitors and school trips. The themes of these galleries include the Garden and the Future.

Away from the regular exhibits

In addition to the fixed displays and demonstrations, the Science Museum also has an IMAX 3D cinema. This facility sees uses that include educational presentations (e.g. in Autumn 2008 there is a Secrets of the Pharaohs and Deep Sea show daily) along with films that are more entertainment based and simply show off the cinema’s technology.

The Science Museum also presents a number of special limited time span exhibitions that can cover any theme or idea connected with science. These exhibits and presentations are ever changing and reflect anything from scientific breakthroughs of the past to innovations of the future.

Location and opening times

The London Science Museum is open seven days per week from 10.00am to 6.00pm and entry is free to all. It is situated on Exhibition Road in South Kensington close to the Natural History Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum. The closest tube stop is South Kensington.