Sciencey/techy things to do in London?

October 12, 2007 4:37 AM

Does anyone have any ideas for touristy things to do in London on Saturday with a science / tech slant?

*pop!*

Hi all. I'm showing my cousin around London (UK) on Saturday. It's his first time outside his native Pakistan. I'm trying to think of an interesting itinerary for us.

He's here to take an MPhil/PhD in engineering (his sphere of expertise is telecommunications, FWIW) so I'd like to incorporate something science- or tech-related into our day. Any suggestions?

posted by laumry to grab bag (15 comments total)

The Science Museum is an obvious but nevertheless worthwhile choice.
posted by normy at 4:46 AM on October 12, 2007

How about the Royal Observatory in Greenwich? I really enjoyed seeing Harrison's H4 in real life.
posted by swordfishtrombones at 4:50 AM on October 12, 2007

I really like the Natural History Museum.

TIP: Make sure you go through the main entrance. I accidentally went through the back entrance and just lost the grandeur of the dinosaur skeleton greeting you at the front.
posted by like_neon at 4:52 AM on October 12, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

The Science Museum is a great day out and even someone with a high level of scientific knowledge and understanding will find something interesting there.

I'm a particular fan of the Telecommunications and Computing galleries but there's plenty of other fun things too.
posted by thparkth at 4:52 AM on October 12, 2007

The Time Galleries at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich have a lot of fun nerdy stuff about navigation and timekeeping. The webpage doesn't really do them justice and I would really recommend a visit.
posted by beniamino at 4:55 AM on October 12, 2007

Seconding Greenwich, which is more park and museum than observatory, but has nice indoor and outdoor parts, and is a lot more historically significant than any modern museum.

Quick train ride.
posted by rokusan at 4:56 AM on October 12, 2007

nthing the Science Museum. It has amazing things like spacecraft and Babbage's difference engine.

If they've seen all of this before, the new Wellcome Collection is also well worth seeing, and it's right in the centre of London.
posted by Zarkonnen at 5:04 AM on October 12, 2007

You picked the right weekend! Amazing-looking 'experiment marathon' at the Serpentine this weekend featuring Steven Pinker, Lewis Wolpert, the people from Edge.org and more.
posted by game warden to the events rhino at 5:04 AM on October 12, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

If you go to Greenwich (which I highly recommend) it might be fun to take a boat tour of the Thames Barrier, a massive engineering work.
posted by grouse at 5:05 AM on October 12, 2007

Science things in London tomorrow.
posted by creeky at 5:15 AM on October 12, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

Not Tech related at all, but science I suppose. And really just to give another option for you.

The Old Operating Theatre Museum in Southwark. It's worth seeing if you're in the area. And small enough so could be visited in just an hour or two.
posted by selton at 5:40 AM on October 12, 2007

I'll Nth the Royal Observatory. I live in Greenwich and it's a lovely area, when you're done there you can see the National Maritime Museum, or take a walk around the park if the weather's not too awful. Which it probably will be.
posted by Ted Maul at 5:55 AM on October 12, 2007

If you go to the Museum of Natural History and are not averse to a bit of biology, take the free tour round the Darwin Centre. You get to go in the tank room and see the giant squid ("Archie").
posted by primer_dimer at 7:10 AM on October 12, 2007

He might be interested in seeing Bletchley Park.
posted by zamboni at 10:11 AM on October 12, 2007

Hey all, thanks for the awesome ideas! (We went to Greenwich in the end... I may take in the 24-hour experiganza today.)
posted by laumry at 12:13 AM on October 14, 2007