Science museum's top 10 objects

 

                                                               The right hand of Hur Kwan in an X-ray

 Which was the more important invention - the railway revolution ushered in by Stephenson's Rocket or the life-saving achievements of penicillin?

The Science Museum in London has chosen a top 10 list of its most significant objects, as part of events marking its centenary.

The public will be invited to vote on this list of scientific breakthroughs.

These "icons" of science will become part of a centenary trail for visitors to the South Kensington museum.

There have already been ｅxpressions of support for particular objects.

Best inventions

Trevor Baylis, the inventor, says he would vote for the V2 rocket engine.

"It's one of the greatest achievements of our time because it led to space exploration, and then satellite development, which then led to mobile phones and the astounding communication services we enjoy today," he said.

Alice Roberts, television presenter and doctor, says she would vote for the invention of the X-ray machine.

"X-rays provided the first possibility of looking inside someone's body without cutting them open, a massive medical advance."

The museum's chief curator, Tim Boon, wants the top 10 to spark debate about the value of inventions and discoveries.

"What did we miss, is there an alternative top ten? Some of the objects may divide opinion. Would we be better off if some of the icons, which have had negative consequences, had not been invented?"

The Science Museum's origins lay in the Great Exhibition of 1851, with funds from the industrial showcase being used to begin a network of museums and libraries in South Kensington.

The first building, known as the South Kensington Museum, was opened to the public in 1857.

The centenary being celebrated this year is the creation in 1909 of a separately administered museum in a new building, which formally adopted the title "Science Museum".

 

*SCIENCE MUSEUM TOP 10

Steam engine

V2 rocket engine

Electric telegraph

Stephenson's Rocket

X-ray machine

Model T Ford

Penicillin

Pilot ACE Computer

DNA double helix

Apollo 10 capsule

 

                                                                      The steam locomotive, Rocket, is in the museum's top 10

 

                                                                             The hands of George V and Queen Mary in an X-ray

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/8091753.stm