So I heard you like science?!

Ok! You made it, you’re in nerd centrali.e. Imperial College, 8th best university in the world (apparently). So you probably really, really, really like science. I get you, so do I. Don’t ask me why, it’s just one of those things, those guilty pleasures you don’t publicly admit to. In case your already science overflowing schedules aren’t quite quenching your thirstfor geekiness, I have compiled a little listof things to maybe check out. Some close, some far; some pretty , some gross; some weirdand some plain bizarre. Enjoy (?)

Science Museum | Starting local

The science museum is the first stop on our geek tour. It is the closest science attraction to South Ken and it is pretty damn cool. It boasts an IMAX screen (that Imperial students can view for free!), space rockets, planes, cars, a lighthouse light, Watson and Crick’s original double helix model, and these are just a few of the things I can name off the top of my head. Those disturbed souls amongst you, often referred to as medics, might particularly enjoy the huge collection of medical artefacts in the upper levels.

On a personal note, one of the artefacts – of which the image is permanently burned into my retina – is an early condom, made out of some sort of animal intestine. But fear not. I am absolutely certain there are plenty more Victorian medical contraptions that will horrify you and make you say out loud “Gee! What a shit time to be alive!”. I’ve just buried them deep in my subconscious.

If you feel like you’re too cool for the Science Museum, it’s ok! You can still visit undercover of the night. The museum holds an adults-only, late-night session at least once a month, typically on the last Wednesday of each month. The silent disco is almost a permanent fixture of the SM Lates and is usually accompanied by a range of fun events.

Natural History Museum | Yup. Still local

Let’s be honest. For at least the first year of your time at Imperial, Southwest London will be your entire universe. But that’s ok ‘cause realistically speaking, between skipping lectures to sleep in and staying up late in your communal kitchen playing ring of fire, Southwest London is probably all you’ll have time to explore. Luckily, College is also conveniently near the Natural History Museum! NHM is home to a number of cool things, including Dippy the fake diplodocus skeleton (soon to be replaced by a real blue whale skeleton), an animatronic T-Rex, a moon stone, the most intact Stegosaurus fossil skeleton ever found, an earthquake simulation room, the fabled spirit collection (I’ll let you figure out what that is for yourselves), and an entire cocoon-like building that gives you a taste of what taxonomists do in their day to day life.

Once again, if you feel you’re too cool for the NHM, you can always visit it during one of its adult only after-hours sessions which take place every last Friday of the month. Of course that does clash with the V&A lates but you’re not cool enough for that. Keep it real.

Grant Zoology Museum | Wooh! More bones!

A very special little museum, the Grant Museum of Zoology near Euston, is part of UCL (calm down, they’re ok) and is the only remaining university zoological museum in london. Of course you might ask how many university zoological museums does a city like London really need, but then that’s not the point. The museum was founded in the early 17th century and was established as a teaching resource. So there’s a lot of cool dead things to gawk at (is there any other way of learning really?), including remains of the now extinct Tasmanian Tiger, Dodo and of the lesser known Quagga, which apart from having a spectacular name, resembles a chocolate dipped zebra.

Other ‘highlights’ include a collection of pickled brains (because what are you doing with your life if you don’t know the difference between a tiger cub brain and a domestic dog brain?), a collection of beautiful glass invertebrate models, and a jar of moles. Yes. A jar of moles. Enjoy that mental image.

Wellcome Collection | For the obsessive compulsive

Another museum bursting with curiosities, the Wellcome Collection is located on Euston Road, and has on show some of pharmaceutical entrepreneur, Sir Henry Solomon Wellcome’s prized possessions. That in itself is not particularly descriptive, because Henry Wellcome collected anything and everything that caught his eye, ranging from erotica to mystical objects with ‘magical’ properties. He was also the founder of pharmaceutical company Burroughs Wellcome & Company, which, after his death, became one of the four companies to form pharma giant GSK. Regardless of how you feel about big pharma, the Wellcome Collection is the obsessive compulsive collector’s dream. It contains a sample of pretty much everything. Highlights include body slices, the human genome library (literally a library with a full human genome printed out), a divine phallus, a peruvian mummy and god knows what else. Happy exploring.

Hunterian Museum | Royal School of Surgeons. ‘nuff said

It takes a very specific type of person to make a surgeon. Visit the Hunterian Museum and you will come a step closer to understanding exactly what kind of person that is. The museum is located near Holborn and although not very well known, or particularly awe-inspiring from the outside, it will take your breath away the moment you walk into its main showroom. Unlike many of the bigger museums in London, the Hunterian museum has kept a more traditional display style. The cluttered layout (i.e. ‘things everywhere’ style of display) give the galleries a Victorian vibe, which gets infinitely reinforced when you take a closer look at the items suspended behind glass and floating within jars. Highlights in the museum include the evelyn tables, the first anatomical preparations in Europe, dating from the 1640s, stand alone cardiovascular and nervous systems, the remains of an unfortunate patient with Myositis ossificans (a condition which results in the calcification of muscle) and various other organs and body parts, human or otherwise, in any state imaginable. So if you’re squeamish and you know it clap your hands. And maybe give this one a pass.

Kew Gardens | More like ew gardens

Just kidding. Kew Gardens are great. Just a short trip West, near the end of the District line in Richmond, the Royal Botanical Gardens actually offer a pretty chill day out. Home to over 30,000 species of living plants and refugium to over 7 million species of seeds, Kew is more than just a beautiful park, it’s an invaluable scientific resource. Kew houses palms, mosses, cacti, alpine species and pretty much anything you can imagine. Highlights include its beautiful 18th century, 19-metre tall glass palm house, which, as you might have guessed by the name, house an array of palms and other tropical plants. There’s also a 50-metre tall pagoda from the 16th century, ‘cause why not; an 18m high, 200m long treetop walkway that offers lovely views and the chance to overcome your fear of heights, and the British World Expo Pavilion from 2015, brought all the way from Milan, the Hive. If you’re really lucky you might come across a flowering Amorphophallus titanum (titan arum). The plant produces a 3m tall flower that reeks of death. If, again, that doesn’t sound appealing, don’t worry. The plant flowers rarely and unpredictably, and with a flowering having occurred last April, the chances that we’ll be graced with this titan’s stench any time soon are slim.