The Royal Institution
The Royal Institution of Great Britain
21 Albemarle Street
Mayfair
London
Greater London
W1S 4BS
England
Website
Telephone
+44 (0) 20 7409 2992
Fax
+44 (0) 20 7670 2920
For over 200 years, the RI has been ‘diffusing science for the common purposes of life’.
Venue Type:
Museum, Science centre
Additional info
The Archive Reading Room is open to the public by appointment, Mon-Wed, 10.00-13.00 and 14.00-17.00.
Includes the original apparatus and papers of many of those who have researched, lectured and lived at the Royal Institution including Humphry Davy, Michael Faraday, John Tyndall, James Dewar, William Bragg, Lawrence Bragg and George Porter. The collection also includes important collections of iconographical material in various media, scientific instruments, as well as a large administrative archive, covering all aspects of the work of the Royal Institution.
Collection details
Science and Technology, Natural Sciences, Archives
Key artists and exhibits
- Michael Faraday
- Induction Ring
- Volta's Battery
- Humphry Davy
- Davy Lamp
- Count Rumford
- James Dewar
- Dewar Flask
- John Tyndall
- William Henry Bragg
- William Lawrence Bragg
- X-ray Spectrometer
- Lysozyme
- Laboratory
Falling Upwards
In this heart-lifting talk, the Romantic biographer Richard Holmes floats across the world following the pioneer generation of balloon aeronauts, from the first heroic experiments of the Montgolfiers in 1780s to the tragic attempt to fly a balloon to the North Pole in the 1890s. For more information and to book visit www.rigb.org.
Suitable for
- 18+
- Not suitable for children
When
7-8:30pm
Admission
Tickets are £10.00 standard, £7.00 concessions and £5.00 Associates. Members go free.
Website
http://www.rigb.org/contentControl?action=displayEvent&id=1474
Terra Rara: The strange story of some political elements
Chemist Andrea Sella demonstrates what we know about rare earth elements, their uses in electronics and renewable energy and what makes them indispensable in our society. In this revealing discourse Andrea considers the political and economic ramifications of their distribution and technology. For more information and to book visit www.rigb.org.
Suitable for
- 18+
- 16-17
When
8-9:15pm
Admission
Tickets are £15.
Website
http://www.rigb.org/contentControl?action=displayEvent&id=1475
The nature of dark energy and dark matter: Are new laws of physics required?
What are dark energy and dark matter? Why do they seem to compose the majority of the stuff in our Universe at present? Astrophysicist Ofer Lahav will guide you through the origin of our Cosmos and some of the unanswered questions about the latest observations of our Universe. For more information and to book visit www.rigb.org.
Suitable for
- 18+
When
7-8:30pm
Admission
Tickets are £10 standard, £7 concessions and £5 Associates. Members go free.
Website
http://www.rigb.org/contentControl?action=displayEvent&id=1485
Stuff matters
Why is glass transparent? What makes elastic stretchy? How come concrete pours and then sets? Why does a paperclip bend? Materials scientist and former Christmas Lecturer Mark Miodownik explores why materials look and behave the way they do. For more information and to book visit www.rigb.org.
Suitable for
- 18+
- 16-17
- 14-15
When
7-8:30pm
Admission
Tickets are £10 standard, £7 concessions and £5 Associates. Members go free.
Website
http://www.rigb.org/contentControl?action=displayEvent&id=1488
Genius and Invention
Try your hand recreating some of the amazing inventions to have come from the Royal Institution (plus a few that some other people came up with too). Discover the best way to keep liquid nitrogen extra chilly, and how to power a light bulb. Get inspired to come up with your very own world-changing invention. Family Fun Day activities are suitable for 6-12 year olds though older and younger siblings also very welcome.
Suitable for
- 5-6
- 7-10
- 11-13
- Family friendly
When
11am-4pm
Admission
Tickets £10.00 adults, £5.00 children over 3. Entrance for Faraday Members and under 3s free.
Website
http://www.rigb.org/contentControl?action=displayEvent&id=1476
Is cosmology possible as a science?
Skeptics have argued that cosmology is not like other sciences because it deals with a unique object, the Universe. Philosopher Chris Smeenk will explore the philosophical debate regarding the nature of cosmology, pressing philosophical questions posed by current theories. For more information and to book visit www.rigb.org.
Suitable for
- 18+
When
7-8:30pm
Admission
Tickets are £10 standard, £7 concessions and £5 Associates. Members go free.
Website
http://www.rigb.org/contentControl?action=displayEvent&id=1486
BIG science
Comedian and science songstress Helen Arney takes on the biggest of the big: The human genome! The known universe! Justin Bieber’s fanbase! Joined by an eclectic bunch of performers and scientists, including comedian, improviser and ex-physicist Richard Vranch, there’ll be plenty of jokes, songs and experiments from the Ri archive. For more information and to book visit www.rigb.org.
Suitable for
- 16-17
- 18+
When
7-8:30pm
Admission
Tickets are £10 standard, £7 concessions and £5 Associates. Members go free.
Website
http://www.rigb.org/contentControl?action=displayEvent&id=1478
Capturing reality with fictional models
The development of electromagnetism by Faraday and Maxwell had its origins in a purely fictional model. Philosopher Margaret Morrison explores how fictional models in physics may function as a source of information, and how they differ from their literary counterparts. For more information and to book visit www.rigb.org.
Suitable for
- 18+
When
7-8:30pm
Admission
Tickets are £10 standard, £7 concessions and £5 Associates. Members go free.
Website
http://www.rigb.org/contentControl?action=displayEvent&id=1487
Small science
Helen Arney examines small science: the obscure, the overlooked and the downright teeny tiny. With experiments from the Ri’s archives, guest scientists and performers including award-winning juggler and variety star Mat Ricardo, this show will reach the parts that others science events don’t reach. WARNING: may contain Higgs...For more information and to book visit www.rigb.org.
Suitable for
- 16-17
- 18+
When
7-8:30pm
Admission
Tickets are £10 standard, £7 concessions and £5 Associates. Members go free.
Website
http://www.rigb.org/contentControl?action=displayEvent&id=1480
Scent of space
Marek Kukula and Odette Toilette exercise your nostrils on an interactive tour of the smells of the cosmos. From the acid clouds of Venus to the oily seas of Saturn’s moon Titan and beyond, all smells are accompanied by astonishing visuals from the Royal Observatory's current exhibition, Visions of the Universe. For more information and to book visit www.rigb.org.
Suitable for
- 18+
- 16-17
- 14-15
When
7-8:30pm
Admission
Tickets are £10 standard, £7 concessions and £5 Associates. Members go free.
Website
http://www.rigb.org/contentControl?action=displayEvent&id=1465
Time, Einstein and the Coolest Stuff in the Universe
At the turn of the 20th century Einstein changed the way we think about time. By the beginning of the 21st his thinking is now shaping one of the key scientific and technological wonders of contemporary life: atomic clocks, the best timekeepers ever made. Nobel Prize winning physicist William Phillips explains how these ultra accurate clocks are still being improved with super cooled atoms - better to than a second in 100 million years. For more information and to book visit www.rigb.org.
Suitable for
- 18+
- 16-17
- Not suitable for children
When
8-9:15pm
Admission
£15.00.
Website
http://www.rigb.org/contentControl?action=displayEvent&id=1481
Computing with quantum cats: From colossus to qubits
Science writer John Gribbin gives an account of the nature of quantum reality, arguing for a universe of many parallel worlds where ‘everything is real’. Looking back to Alan Turing’s work on the Enigma machine and the first electronic computer, John explains how quantum theory developed to make quantum computers work in practice as well as telling us what this means for the future of technology. For more information and to book visit www.rigb.org.
Suitable for
- 18+
- 16-17
- 14-15
When
7-8:30pm
Admission
Tickets are £10 standard, £7 concessions and £5 Associates. For more information and to book visit www.rigb.org.
Website
http://www.rigb.org/contentControl?action=displayEvent&id=1482
Everest: Survival at the extremes
Greg Foot explores the physiology of high-altitude survival and introduces a group of doctors going to extremes on a scientific adventure to help save critically ill patients back home. This family friendly, demo-rich show will include exercise physiology and the genetics of fitness, the equipment and survival techniques used in high-altitude expeditions, plus hypoxia and its uses in intensive care medicine. For more information and to book visit www.rigb.org.
Suitable for
- 7-10
- 11-13
- 14-15
When
6-7:30pm
Admission
Tickets are £10 standard, £7 concessions and £5 Associates. Members go free.
Website
http://www.rigb.org/contentControl?action=displayEvent&id=1483
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