museums

Freddie’s Story

Photograph of Beetle on a Leaf, early 20th Century ( Inv. 31584). Do you think Freddie's beetle was anything like this?

Photograph of Beetle on a Leaf, early 20th Century (Inv. 31584). Do you think Freddie’s beetle was anything like this?

Name: Freddie

Age: 5

Occupation: School

Object: Beetle

Story: Yesterday in a bucket in the garden was a beetle. We thought it had a green grape in its moth. But we noticed the green was, we think, its head. We emptied the bucket and photographed it. We are going to send the picture to the Museum of Natural History.

 

Like Freddie, you can send your questions to museums which specialise in that area and they will try their best to answer!

Alyson’s Story

Alyson saw patterns like this through the kaleidoscope at our weekend event! Photo credit: Kaleidoscope-on-blue by Song_sing (license)

Name: Alyson

Age: 6

Occupation: School

From: Northamptonshire

Object: Kaleidoscope

Story: There was a different pattern when I moved it around, they looked funny. I used the rocks to make my very own pattern and that was very pretty and funny. One pink, blue and brown rocks. I liked it lots it was fun.

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Advertisement on ‘Method of using the admired Kaleidoscope…’ 19th Century (Inv. 13844) This advert is from the Museum’s archives, would it convince you to buy the kaleidoscope?

Sophia’s Story

Cine Kodak Camera, by Kodak, USA, 1940s inv. 37261

Cine Kodak Camera, by Kodak, 1940s (Inv. 37261) This camera is very similar to the one used at the Museum’s event which Sophie attended.

Name: Sophia

Age: 4

Occupation: Work from home making a mess!

From: Oxford

Object: Camera

Story: Today I learned about old cameras – it was very exciting! Very different to an iPhone! I got to grips with it quickly and took a pretend photo of my mummy and daddy. I found the museum workshop very interesting.

Caitlin’s Story

Two-Day Marine Chronometer, c. 1840 (Inv. 38217) 'Chronometer' is the title given to clocks accurate enough to be used at sea. This one comes from the Museum's collections, we wonder if it was similar to those Catilin saw at the Greenwich Maritime Museum.

Two-Day Marine Chronometer, c. 1840 (Inv. 38217) ‘Chronometer’ is the title given to clocks accurate enough to be used at sea. This one comes from the Museum’s collections, we wonder if it was similar to those Catilin saw at the Greenwich Maritime Museum.

Name: Caitlin

Age: 24

Occupation: Student

From: Kent

Object: Nautical Clock

Story: When I was about 8 I went to Greenwich Maritime Museum with my parents. They spent ages explaining how the clocks has helped sailors navigate the globe, which I found really boring. Their lecture was rewarded a few weeks later when my school held a science competition and my essay on how the nautical clocks at Greenwich helped sailors travel the work won me first prize – a book on science, a box of magnets and a huge bag of sweets (which lasted far longer than the book!).

Jessica’s Story

Rat Operating Table, Mid-20th Century (Inv. 47402). This would have been used for similar dissections to the one Jessica's saw.

Rat Operating Table, Mid-20th Century (Inv. 47402). Historically, this would have been used for similar dissections to the one Jessica’s saw.

Name: Jessica

Age: 11

Occupation: School girl

From: Berkshire, UK

Object: Pig eye!

Story: I remember when I was eight I came to The Museum of the History of Science and I saw a lady dissecting a pig eyeball! I was so fascinated. Since then I have kept coming back and I love finding all these new things here!

Liz’s Story

Model Aircraft! Photo credit: Buccaneer finished! by Kris Davies (license)

Model Aircraft! Photo credit: Buccaneer finished! by Kris Davies (license)

Name: Liz

Occupation: Historian

From: Ireland

Object: Airfix aircraft

Story: I was fascinated by aircraft and model aircraft from an early age.  My dad gave me his copy of “Biggles Learns to Fly” when I was seven and I developed a fascination with historic aircraft, especially those from World War One, which continues to this day.  I regularly dragged my parents and siblings to air shows and aviation museums and would meet them in the café afterwards as I liked to read and look at everything in the various museums and also question the gallery assistants too.

When I was 10, I was brought to Eason’s, a book shop and department shop in Dublin city centre, where I discovered their model aircraft section and never looked back!  It may have been the paint and glue fumes or maybe just my passion for aircraft, their technology and history, but I got a real high from carefully building and painting model aircraft and hanging them from the ceiling of my bedroom with thin wire and blu-tack.  I would buy an Airfix aircraft set and then read up on the history of the aeroplane and the people who flew them.