Recreating Volta’s pile

Earlier this month I was lucky enough to be invited to join the Naked Scientists radio show to build a voltaic pile in front of a live audience. You can listen here:  The story of the development of the pile is an interesting one. In 1799 Alessandro Volta was experimenting with some curious phenomena that had …

The end of the Information Age?

Well, it’s obviously not the end of the Information Age, if such a thing truly exists. Although I am marking the end of my personal journey into building the Science Museum’s brand new Information Age gallery, and heading off to pastures new. When I started at the Science Museum back in 2010 as an assistant …

In defence of Longitude

I spotted this tweet earlier and it made me smile:  OTD John Harrison – brilliant clockmaker, recipient of lots of Board of Longitude money – was born (1693) & died (1776) via @georgiangent — Rebekah Higgitt (@beckyfh) March 24, 2013 I’ve had a soft spot for Harrison “the underdog” ever since I saw the TV …