Whipple Museum of the History of Science

The Whipple Museum of the History of Science is a small, free museum that rewards curious visitors with one of the finest collections of scientific instruments in Britain. It is housed in the Old Perse School building on Free School Lane, whose seventeenth-century hall gives the displays a beautiful setting, and it is only a few minutes' walk from King's Parade and the Market Square. The collection was founded in the 1940s by Robert Whipple, a scientific instrument company director and collector who gave his instruments to the university, and it has grown to include thousands of objects. Brass telescopes and microscopes, globes of the Earth and the heavens, sundials and astrolabes, slide rules and mechanical calculators, anatomical models and teaching apparatus fill the cases. Each object tells a story about how people measured, mapped and imagined the world, and about how Cambridge became a centre of science. It is a good museum for people who like objects with craftsmanship, and for anyone who wants to see the human side of science rather than its theory.

Opening arrangements for small university museums can be limited, and the Whipple has usually opened on selected afternoons rather than every day, so check its page before you set out. Admission is free, and you can expect a visit of around forty-five minutes to an hour. The building is historic and some areas can be tight, so ask about access if you need it. The museum often hosts talks and family activities, and its temporary displays change, so there is usually something fresh for a repeat visitor.

Look for the detail. The globes and astronomical instruments are among the most beautiful objects, with engraved brass and painted paper that took great skill to make. The microscopes show how scientists learned to look at the very small, while the calculators and slide rules trace the long road to modern computing.

Model animals, plants and human anatomy used for teaching are a reminder of how science was once taught without screens. Labels are concise, so you can enjoy the pieces without needing a background in the subject, and staff are usually happy to answer questions.

The Whipple sits in the middle of the science quarter. Around the corner you can find the Corpus Clock, a modern sculpture-clock on the front of Corpus Christi College, and the Eagle pub, where Francis Crick and James Watson are said to have announced their discovery of the structure of DNA in 1953.

Together they make an easy walking route on the theme of science. If you are building an itinerary around museums, add the Sedgwick Museum, the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology and the Fitzwilliam Museum, all of which are free and all within a short walk or cycle ride.

Allow a few extra minutes to enjoy the hall itself, with its old timber roof and carved details, which are as much a part of the visit as the instruments. The museum is a perfect antidote to a day of big colleges, offering quiet and close-up detail. Because the displays are compact, the visit can easily be fitted around a lunch break, and children who like gadgets, maps and mechanical things tend to enjoy hunting for the oldest or smallest object in each case.