I’ve never been to the Mount Wilson observatory, and it’s looking like I might never get to. It’s currently under threat from a wildfire that’s burning out of control. It would be a great loss if it were to burn down, because the historical sites of science have an inspirational power that defies explanation. Sit under a telescope dish and you start thinking about all kinds of things that transcend the everyday. I think it’d be interesting to put together a top ten list of science sites that we ought to preserve (maybe some are gone already?) in order to inspire future generations of scientists. Here’s mine. I know it’s biased towards physics, but what have I missed?
1. Galileo’s observatory
Where the modern astronomical tradition beganThe room in the patent office where Einstein dreamed up relativity http://www.aip.org/history/einstein/images/ae10.jpg
2. The Bell labs microwave antenna
Where we accidentally discovered the first evidence for the Big Bang
3. Mount Wilson Observatory
Where Edwin Hubble showed that the universe is expanding
4. Flagstaff’s Lowell Observatory
Forget Mt Wilson: this is the real place we discovered just how big the universe might be. Vesto Slipher was the powerhouse behind modern cosmology, and I bet you’ve never heard of him…
5. The Eagle pub, Cambridge
Where Crick and Watson held the first celebration of the discovery of the structure of DNA
6. Galapagos Islands
Too obvious?
7. Trinity Site
The location of the first atomic bomb test
8. Marie Curie’s laboratory
It's no. 11, rue Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, and it has been turned into a museum. I love this: "The radioactive furniture has been replaced with safe replicas."
9. The Carlsberg academy
Where quantum theory really got going.
10. Erwin Schrödinger's Swiss holiday home
OK, that's not really it. But at Christmas in 1926, a break from his wife (spent with his mistress) inspired him to come up with his famous wave equation…anyone know where it is?
Your turn...
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