Discover London’s hidden science gems with Rachael Rowe’s new guidebook to offbeat sites perfect for curious minds and history lovers
If you’re looking for something new to see on your next trip to London, perhaps take a look at The Science Lover’s Guide to London, a new book by The BV journalist Rachael Rowe.
‘As a former nurse, science fascinates me, and I realised that there isn’t a science-focused guidebook to London – this is the first full colour book on London’s science links.’
Don’t let the science on the cover put you off, however. This is a book filled with fascinating facts and suggestions on where to go and what to do beyond the obvious tourist trail.
‘There’s lots that non-scientists enjoy just as much! For example, looking at some of the abandoned underground stations – they’re really interesting, and full of urban social history. Or you can take a tour to see the cavernous Bascule Chambers underneath Tower Bridge.
‘It’s not about having a passion for science, it’s about realising there are so many different things to see once you get off the main tourist track. Obviously I’ve covered the bigger attractions like the Science Museum and the Natural History Museum, but I also looked at some of the more unusual sites. For example, Kirkaldy’s Testing Works – within walking distance of Waterloo. To engineers it’s as important as Greenwich is to sailors. It’s a Victorian workshop, and when you go in, you can still smell the oil and grease. They’ve restored a lot of the engines and the testing apparatus to full working order – it’s a fascinating place, but so many people don’t even know it’s there.
‘I’ve tried to cover as broad a history as London itself has. Barts Hospital is in because it’s the oldest hospital in the country – it’s been on the same site since it was founded in the 12th century – and its museum shows how medical care has developed over the past 900 years. At the Hunterian Museum at the Royal College of Surgeons, there are exhibits from the ancient Egyptians right up to modern robotic surgery. And then there’s the Crick Institute, which offers free lectures to kids.
‘Probably my favourite place was the Fleming Museum at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, where Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin. It’s really small, and it’s in the hospital where he actually worked. You walk up these stairs, and it’s like walking back in time – you end up in his dusty old office, and you can see petri dishes left just as he left that food lying around and came back to find the mould. It’s so unchanged, so simple … I loved it.
‘Another favourite was Big Ben – going up the tower to see it strike, and see all the engineering of the clock mechanism. Top insider tip – go on the 10 o’clock tour, because then you get 11 bongs. If you go on the 12 o’clock, you only get one bong! It’s really quite an experience to actually be in such an iconic spot, right when it was striking, and to be able to walk behind the clock face.
‘There are also quite a few Dorset connections in the book. We’ve got Robert Boyle, who came from Stalbridge – there are exhibits of his in the Science Museum, and he’s also linked to St Mary-le-Bow church: under the terms of his Will, he endowed a series of annual lectures which continue to this day.
‘Frederick Treves, the Dorset surgeon from Dorchester who rescued the Elephant Man and saved Edward VII, appears, as does John Freke, born in Okeford Fitzpaine, who was a pioneering 18th century surgeon at St Bart’s.
Artist William Hogarth married a Dorset girl, the daughter of Sir James Thornhill of Stalbridge, famous for the murals in Sherborne House and the Painted Hall at Greenwich – often called Britain’s Sistine Chapel. His epic ceiling includes around 200 figures depicting the 18th century story of political change, scientific and cultural achievements and naval endeavours.’
The Science Lover’s Guide to London is available now, published by Pen & Sword.
