Exhibitions
Current Exhibitions
Model Translations
27 November 2012 - 30 April 2013. Location: The Octagon Gallery
(Wilkins Building), UCL.
Model Translations is the first ever exhibition in the Octagon
Gallery, UCLs new exhibition space. The exhibition showcases objects – some
never displayed before – from across UCL's museums and collections. These
objects reveal creative encounters and explorations between scholars and the
natural and made environment, but at times materialise world views that are
problematic and difficult to reconcile today. This exhibition is supported by
the Andrew W Mellon Foundation of New York.
Three objects from the Science Collections feature in the exhibition, two from Chemistry and one from Electrical Engineering. These are a 'Collywobble', a model of the theoretical shape of the benzene molecule made by Norman Collie, and what is believed to be the first clinical x-ray in the UK, taken by Collie in 1898. The Electrical Engineering object is the 'Big Egg', an object whose function was unknown until this exhibition. It is now known to be a crystal model.
For further information please visit the current exhibitions website.
Sir William Ramsay Display
Ongoing. Location: Sir Christopher Ingold Building, UCL Chemistry, Gordon Street, UCL.
A small display exhibiting objects exploring the work of William
Ramsay, the discoverer of the Nobel Gases. Ramsay taught at UCL between 1887 -
1913, and was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1904 "in recognition of his services in
the discovery of the inert gaseous elements in air".
The display features original lab equipment and geissler tubes from the Chemistry Collection, displayed alongside the original sample
of Cleveite from which Ramsay identified
Helium from the Geology Collection.
For further information on the Chemistry Department please visit their website. Please note that visitors will need to pass through a manned security barrier to view this display. Staff and students are asked to bring their UCL ID with them. Outside visitors will need to talk to the security officer on duty.
Foreign Bodies
18March - 14th July 2013. Location: North Cloisters (Wilkins Building), UCL.
An exhibition by UCL research students, re-interpreting the museum collections through the theme of ‘foreign bodies’. Through seven very different research projects, audiences are invited to explore the idea of what is alien – biologically, psychologically, socially and politically – and how this concept has shifted across history, culture and even species.
The Science Collections are represented by a series of forceps from the History of Medicine loans box.
Please visit the Researchers in Museums website for more
information.
Upcoming Exhibitions
Digital Frontiers
Start of June - November 2013. Location: The Octagon Gallery (Wilkins Building), UCL.
Digital Frontiers and the themes explored in the exhibition - smart,
connected and participatory - will aim to explore how emerging
technologies are changing the way we access and
experience culture and asks questions about the nature of art and
technology.
The Science and Engineering Collections will be represented by a large number of objects including two examples of Ambrose Flemings Original Thermionic Valves, a rare Nautical Galvanometer from the Physics Collection and a Curta pocket calculator from Geomatic Engineering.
