Whipple Museum of the History of Science, Cambridge
The Whipple Museum of the History of Science in Cambridge is a small museum, but a must visit for anyone with an interest in science and its history.
The museum is housed in a building dating from 1618 which was the first Cambridge Free School.
The Museum is one of the eight museums in the University of Cambridge Museums consortium.
History
The museum was founded in 1944 by Robert Whipple who donated his extensive collection of historic scientific instruments to the University of Cambridge.
Since then the museum's collection has expanded with the inclusion of many other exhibits. The museum has books, documents, photographs, models, and scientific apparatus, but the bulk of the collection is of historic scientific instruments largely, but by no means exclusively, from the 16th to 19th centuries, with British manufactured instruments being dominant.
Telescopes, microscopes, globes, all kinds of instruments and measuring devices from all fields of science including natural history, the collection also includes more recent objects such as an early x-ray tube and a part of Babbidge's differential engine, a precursor to the computer. Of even more recent origin is a collection of more than 400 hand-held calculators from the 1970s to 1980s.
Access - Getting There
Free School Lane, Cambridge CB2 3RH
Tel: 01223 330906
www: whipplemuseum.cam.ac.uk
Open Monday to Friday, 2 pm to 3.30 pm
Pre-book free tickets on the museum website
Nearby
Cambridge is best explored on foot, by bicycle or on the River Cam in a punt. Attractions in this lovely city include two bridges over the river. These are the Bridge of Sighs and the wooden Mathematical Bridge at Queen's College
Also of interest are the University Botanical Gardens, the Fitzwilliam Museum on Trumpington Street, the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology on Downing Street and the Scott Polar Research Institute (Polar Museum) on Lensfield Road.
Popular Cambridge colleges for tourists are King's College, Clare College and Trinity College.
Hotels
If you wish to stay in Cambridge there are several recommended options. These include the three-star Holiday Inn Express Cambridge, the three-star ibis Cambridge Central Station and the four-star Ramada Cambridge, a 20-minute drive from the centre.
Hotels in Cambridge
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