London Science Museum catalogs 200 years of communication tech
Her Majesty the Queen took to Twitter for the first time today, but not to complain about the amount of ice in her post-brunch frappé. Instead, Liz was announcing the opening of a new permanent gallery at London's Science Museum that takes visitors on a journey through more than two centuries of information and communication technologies. "Information Age: Six Networks That Changed Our World" delves into the history of electric telegraphy, telephone and broadcast networks, as well as exploring the later development of satellite communications, mobile networks and the web: all the technology we take for granted today. Among over 800 exhibits are gems including Sir Tim Berners-Lee's NeXT computer, which hosted the first web server, the BBC's first radio transmitter, a piece of the first transatlantic cable connecting the UK to the US, and a replica of the first computer mouse. Taking pride of place at the heart of the gallery is the Rugby Tuning Coil (pictured above), a vast contraption that, in its day, was the most powerful radio transmitter in the world.
[Image credit: Science Museum]
