Britain Can Make It!

November 4, 2009 3:53 PM

Making the Modern World presents a set of twisty little passages through the history of science and invention, from the eighteenth century to the contemporary era, brought to you by the UK's Science Museum.
posted by Miko (4 comments total)

Very interesting. I was intrigued to see recurring motifs of eyeglasses, tobacco accessories, and dolls. I also found the "work" section very interesting -- what a great assortment of ingenious tools.
posted by bearwife at 4:01 PM on November 4, 2009

"I wasn't going to give up the horses, so I had to redesign a mucking out fork..."

"Purely from the physics point of view, the fulcrum point is such that you're taking the strain through the arms, into the back, across the shoulders and into the neck. So virtually the whole of the body is under strain when you're mucking the stable out."

Born without a left hand, instead of dropping out or giving up, this woman has instead made her love of horses, and her life, easier by developing her own shovel. Good on her!
posted by netbros at 4:36 PM on November 4, 2009 [1 favorite]

I just visited this with my kids. The layout is really good. You literally walk through time. Quite astonishing.
posted by unSane at 5:10 PM on November 4, 2009

A mefi favour requested: If you're going round here and your tour guide is called Tiva, tell her I sent you and ask which is the drive wheel on the train.

Excellent exhibits, too (they have a V2, an Apollo 11 capsule, and Stephenson's Rocket). The Science museum is all kinds of awesome.
posted by jaduncan at 4:20 AM on November 5, 2009