The Return from London - A Science Geek's Heaven!

So, I've not posted anything for a while... I've been a bit busy (mainly getting married, and going for a short break in London on honeymoon!).
Apologies for the short intermission, but I'm now back in business!

London is known for a lot of things: The Queen, Buckingham Palace, The Tower of London, London Bridge, thousands of tourists, innumerable stalls selling Union Jack adorned just-about-anythings... the list just goes on and on, but amid all of the more internationally recognisable tourist attractions are some places of absolute wonder for the scientifically minded. I suppose, for this post, I am a Wondering Scientist, as well as a Wandering Scientist!

First on the 'to-do' list was Kew Gardens as I had never had the chance to visit before. More officially known as 'The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew', this was a place that I had wanted to visit for many years, and it did not disappoint. Acre upon acre of botanical specimens is enough to entertain for hours, with beautiful vistas, striking architectural features and follies, not to mention the hot-houses. The canopy walk-way (which is not recommended to vertigo sufferers!) offers fantastic views across the grounds of Kew, and towards the heart of London.
At every turn there was something of educational benefit, with plaques and sculptures, and the new Evolution House, tracing the origin of plants from simple single celled photosynthetic bacteria and algae through ferns to higher flowering plants. Sir Joseph Banks, who has a conservatory named in his honour in Lincoln, contributed a great deal the collection, but any influence of his in the hot-houses was, in my opinion, overshadowed by the magnificent heritage trees (which did a good job of overshadowing a lot of things literally as well!). Trees who's life span makes us mere humans seem insignificant. Trees with personality, history, and unique stories to tell. Trees which made me feel small in more ways than one.

Second on the agenda was the Natural History Museum, a place which I have visited on many occasions in the past, but which always offers something new. Unfortunately we were greeted by a sign informing us the "The dinosaurs are on holiday" due to regular cleaning and maintenance. No matter - we still had barely enough time in the day to fit everything in. By the time we had covered the minerals and meteorites we barely had time left to find the Kirk's Dik-dik (which belongs to the antelope family, but is only a few centimetres tall) in the mammal hall, next to larger relatives including the skeleton of a blue whale, before closing time.

The next day took us to the Science Museum, formerly part of the Victoria and Albert Museum (which we, sadly, didn't have time to visit). The exhibits on early medicine, and the developments of accurate time-keeping were a real revelation. To have seen a pocket watch made and used in the early 1600's is a thing of wonder indeed. Then there was the kids area... One word... CHAOS! There were so many cool, hands-on gadgets and gizmos that I felt like joining in with the general jostling, and pushing small children out of the way (as the bigger children were quite merrily doing) to have a look, but grown-up-ness got the better of me, and instead we retired to a nearby pub for a spot of lunch before beginning the afternoon assault. The afternoon brought us a 3D experience of flying with the Red Arrows display team (actually 4D if you include the moving seats!), who are close to my heart, as they are based just outside my home city of Lincoln. We also saw the Apollo 10 Command module, and most impressive of all, from a personal level, but very mediocre on a 'visual impact' level was the original Watson & Crick model of the DNA double helix... Their original, with their handwriting on it! What an amazing and wonderful end to the scientific wanderings around the sights of London!