What ever has happened to the Science Museum

A few lines on the death of an old friend . . .The Museum

When I was a child my dad often took me to the Science Museum. . .There could be seen the actual machines, apparatus and vehicles that propelled us into the modern world. Electron microscopes, A supersonic wind tunnel, The prototype Deltic standing on an entire section of real railway complete with a signal box,station and wonderful Terance Cuneo painting,

Last week I went to the Science Museum again. . And it was gone! The serried ranks of wonderful exhibits replaced by "experiences" and "educational displays" . Everything now has to be "Interactive" and "Instructional" . And everything seems to be aimed at children (who seem to have an attention span of seconds). Obviously our future depends on our children but this child was deeply inspired by seeing John Glens Mercury capsule, A giant Castle Class locomotive, A gallery of beautiful ship models more detailed than I could ever imagine possible and right on the top floor the aircraft that had made this country great. The ACTUAL aircraft at that.

 In todays Science Museum Education, Interactivity, Experiences and Entertainment have slain all before them.  For example in the ground floor area was an enormous  steam engine stationary after many years of gracefully rotating its huge flywheel like the space station in 2001. Next to the engine was an interactive computer screen educating all about the engine. . It had an animation of the engine in operation. . . . And people were photographing the computers screen, ignoring the real magnificent engine standing forgotten by the crowd around its display screen . ..

It is all so very very wrong. I have nothing against interactivity, education and entertainment but not in a Museum for goodness sake. Museums are for showing you actual THINGS!
There is only one place on Earth I can can see a genuine Stephenson's Rocket locomotive, or a British Black Arrow rocket. and that is at a Museum. .

Leave the interactivity and entertainment to schools and the Internet and lets put all the exhibits back into the Science Museum .




As a footnote I read somewhere that the Maritime gallery is to be dismantled but before this they are going to comprehensively photographed for posterity. Why not just leave the thing alone in place. . .For posterity. . . .