Bluehour

Thank God I beat everyone to the buzzer.

It's actually the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine at the corner of Keppel and Gower Streets.

Have a look at citiesofscience.co.uk

Have I mentioned that Google is the greatest invention of all time?
I think I might not even care if they might be evil.
Which makes me very conflicted.

steviegene

I don’t know if this would be considered scientific or not.
When we were in paris we went on les egots (the sewers) tour.
Paris has a fascinating system of sewers (fascinating to my husband at least), and this tour gets you under the city and looking at the tunnels etc. It did smell - a very distinctive smell - and throughout the rest of our time in paris when we walked over sewer drains we would say "les egots!"

lynny

Wow, you guys are great! I loved the website on John Snow, great info and pictures!
Beatchick, I think a themed guided tour on scientific artifacts and history would be great, encourage your friend!
I had heard of the stuffed Jeremy Bentham, is he the one that asked to be rolled out for meetings in his stuffed state?
Is the Tour St Jacques covered up for remodeling?
The pickled specimens sound interesting and disgusting--always a great match!
I think finding the meter measurement would be fun, too.
There are so many great ideas on this thread- you guys are the best!

tod

There is no greater science related hot-spot in Paris than The Pasteur Museum and Mausoleum, 23 Rue Du Docteur-Roux, Metroasteur (of course!).
Located on two floors a re-constructed apartment-museum gives visitors a wealth of information.
The museum holdings include Pasteurs persoanl effects, clothing, family portraits, plush furniture and works of art.
His laboratory equipment includes the simple magnifying glass used in most of his observations.
His remains are in a special sarcophagus made of Swedish porphyry set in the centre of the crypt, an impressive and sumptuously decorated Latin cross chamber, the architect being Charles-Louis Girault.
Engraved in the marble is a cronology of Pasteurs major discoveries.

Beatchick

I was told it was covered up for renovations (and to hold it up). It's pretty old. Y'know, this is where Catherine de Medicis' astronomer once gazed at the stars.

h0b0

What a great thread. We'll have our pre-teen kids in Paris in just a few weeks and love hearing these ideas. Thanks to everybody!

david_west

I had heard of the stuffed Jeremy Bentham, is he the one that asked to be rolled out for meetings in his stuffed state?>>>>>>>>>>> >

That's the bloke, and they do roll him out.

Here he is...(that's his real head under the chair) (warning - a bit grotesque for some):

http://cepa.newschool.edu/het/profil...e/benthead.jpg

Kippy

a visit to the Old Operating Theatre Museum and Herb Garret brings alive an aspect of what life must have been like in 1800's London. www.thegarret.org.uk. There is a specially built operating theatre complete with sawdust box under the operating table and a viewing gallery which was used pre-anaesthesia and pre-antiseptic surgery.

tod

Just remebered reading about the Paleontology Museum at the Jardin des Plantes. Stuffed animals from elephants to giraffes. Dinosaurs & wall to wall bones.
Could be a fun place to take pre-teen kids.

tod

What about the Paleontology Museum in the Jardin des Plantes? Has stuffed animals as large as elephants and also Dinosaurs.

tod

Ooops! Didn't see that one sneak through twice!

jsmith

In London, the Brunel Engine House honors one of Britain's greatest engineering families. A google search will tell you much more about the first underwater tunnel in the world, built by Marc Brunel from 1824-43, and the other engineering accomplishments of this innovative family.

laurie_ann

And in Paris, Marie Curie's lab is also now a museum. (Don't worry, it says the radioactive furniture and appliances have all been replaced with safe replicas!) I also found on line a walking tour of Paris about her and her husband that included her residences, her teaching places and the bridge where her husband was killed. He of course was also a great scientist. (The website for the walking tour as well as other biographical information about her is http://hypatiamaze.org/m_curie/curie_walk.html.)

Tim_and_Liz

Thanks bluehour. I am working on finishing my PhD in epidemiology, so John Snow is my celebrity.

someotherguy

Out of print now, but worth checking the second-hand sites for are
"A Travel Guide to Scientific Sites of the British Isles: A Guide to the People, Places and Landmarks of Science"
and
"The Scientific Traveler: A Guide to the People, Places, and Institutions of Europe"
both by Charles Tanford and Jacqueline Reynolds.

Bluehour

Tim/Liz
That's so cool!
I think it would do your heart good to see how many people actually come to see, or at least stop to read the plaque on, the pump. If you hang around the pub long enough, you'll probably run into someone who REALLY REALLY WANTS to hear as much about your dissertation as you can stand to tell them. Your grant will cover it.

It's funny. I first heard the story as a kid. It's like Johnny's been following me around my whole life!

Hang in there with your dissertation. You'll get through it.

Robespierre

You can traverse Marc 'n' Isambard's Rotherhithe tunnel by riding the East London Line on the Underground. While you're out at that end of town, you can also walk under the Thames via Binnie's foot tunnel (shown on the DLR map as Island Gardens to Cutty Sark). Isambard's Blackwall Tunnel (vehicular) is downstream, as is the Thames Barrier, in Charlton. All of this is described at

http://www.greenwich-guide.org.uk

Tim_and_Liz

Bluehour, I'm LOL @
"If you hang around the pub long enough, you'll probably run into someone who REALLY REALLY WANTS to hear as much about your dissertation as you can stand to tell them. Your grant will cover it."

I'll have to keep that in mind. We're waiting for the Northwest pilot debacle to figure itself out before we purchase our tix to London.

BTilke

The Marie Curie museum Institut is small. But it is interesting (it took them years to decontaminate those rooms). The two times I was there, the only other visitors were French science teachers. The museum also has on display her Nobel Prize certificate(as I recall).