The Science Museum

Anyone despairing of the future of the human race really should visit the Science Museum in London. You will surely walk away uplifted, as I was.There on display you will see thousands of examples of man's genius in fashioning the machines we so take for granted today. What is so astonishing is the progress that has been made in such a relatively short time. I have chosen images that illustrate this progress.

This is a replica of an Astrarium built in 1381. A description follows.

Astrararium

Astrarium 1

Then there is Stephenson's Rocket which was built in 1829.

Stephensons Rocket

Around 150 years later man had progressed to sending a man to the moon in this spacecraft.

Apollo 13

And here is a replica of the very first computer invented by Charles Babbage around 1849.

Babbage 3

 
On display is also the very first jet engine which I neglected to get a photo of, and many of the early machines created in man's attempts at flight. I marvelled at the courage and sheer persistence of these people in overcoming what must have seemed at times insurmountable problems. Yet they endured, and today we reap the rewards of their efforts. Surely there's a message there for all of us.