Royal Institution (Faraday Laboratory)

On Friday evening, June 29, the EIL Students along with Profs. Berry and Parsons visited the Royal Institution (Michael Faraday Museum) near Green Park. In addition to visiting Faraday's Laboratory, the students attended a (Friday) Discourse lecture entitled "Are We Ready for the Next Pandemic" by Dr. Peter Piot (London School of Hygene and Tropical Medicine). In 1976, Dr. Piot co-discovered  the Ebola virus in Zaire. His lecture was given in the Royal institution's lecture hall, where Michael Faraday started the Christmas lectures in 1825. The RI today is known for its science education programs, a continuation of the tradition of scientific lectures as enlightened entertainment. The Friday Night Discourses were formal affairs with the audience in evening dress and the speaker by tradition had to start and stop his address as the auditorium clock struck consecutive hours. J. J. Thomson announced the discovery of the electron in his 1897 lecture in this room. The Christmas Lecture program, begun by Michael Faraday and continuing through today, is the oldest continuous science education program for young people.

Warner Brothers Harry Potter Studios Tour

In the afternoon of Wednesday, June 27, EIL students and faculty set off to Watford Junction (by train from Euston Station) and then to Leavesden (by bus).  They visited the Warner Brothers Harry Potter Studios to observe the engineering magic needed to create all eight of the blockbuster films.  The group spend about three hours touring the studios, eating dinner, and playing an intense round of Harry Potter trivia (for special prizes) in the cafe.

London Water & Steam Museum (Kew Bridge)

On Saturday, June 24, the EIL students along with Profs. Berry and Parsons visited the London Museum of Water and Steam (formerly Kew Bridge Steam Museum) at Kew Bridge. They witnessed the startup of the Bolton and Watt Engine that was built in 1820 and moved to Kew Bridge in 1840. They were also shown the natural gas heated boiler used to produce the steam for all the engines in the Museum.  Before leaving the Museum, the students competed in a handheld boiler competition.  

Bletchley Park

On Friday, June 23, the EIL students along with Profs. Berry and Parsons and Emily Brown from IES visited Bletchley Park (north of London). Bletchley Park is where Alan Turing and his colleagues broke the Enigma code during World War II.  The students witnessed demonstrations of working Bombe, Tunny, Harwell Dekatron, and Colossus machines and were given the opportunity to operate an actual Enigma machine. The Colossus was the world's first electric digital computer that was programmable. The Colossus computers were developed to help in the cryptanalysis of the Hitler's Lorenz cipher.  Nicknamed WITCH for Wolverhampton Instrument for Teaching Computing from Harwell, the Harwell Dekatron at the National Museum of Computing is considered the oldest electronic computer that is still operational. Our guides (Sheridan, John, and Tom) were excellent and Professor Berry was given another vacuum tube and tape samples from the working Colossus machine for the display case in the Min Kao Building on the UT campus.

Greenwich

On Friday, June 15, the EIL students along with Profs. Berry and Parsons took a Thames Clipper boat up the Thames River to Greenwich. At Greenwich, they visited the Cutty Sark ship, Royal Maritime Museum, the Queen's House, and the Royal Observatory.  In the Time and Longitude Gallery of the  Flamsteed House at the Royal Observatory, students were able to see Harrison's sea clocks from the eighteenth century.  Harrison's H4 clock is considered the most important timekeeper ever made. It is the machine that helped solve the problem of keeping accurate time at sea and finally won Harrison huge rewards from the Board of Longitude and the British Government.  As is customary,  group photos were taken at the Prime Meridian (Latitude 0) and with Southeast London as the background. Many of the students were wearing their EIL program T-shirts.

Brunel Museum and Maritime Walk

On Wednesday evening (June 13), the EIL students joined Profs. Berry and Parsons for the Maritime London at Eventide Walk on the bank of the Thames River.  Our guide (Tim Thomas) hosted a 1.5 hour walking tour through the ancient Rotherhithe community that include the Grand Entrance Hall to the tunnel (under the Thames River) designed and built by Marc and Isambard (Kingdom) Brunel.  Completed in 1834, this was the world's first underwater tunnel.  Isambard Brunel was considered by many to be the greatest engineer of Victorian England. The Mayflower pub shown below is the location of the original launching of the pilgrim's Mayflower ship of the seventeenth century.