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British Museum

By
Memetic Engineer
on August 13, 2007 12:00 AM |

British Museum
Great Russell Street
London
WC1B 3DG

British_Museum_map.gif

GPS grid coordinates:
Latitude: (WGS84) N51:31:08 ( 51.518970 )
Longitude: (WGS84) W0:07:35 ( -0.126501 )

The British Museum is close to the TUC conference centre, and the Forbidden Planet Megastore, where the William Gibson readings and signings from Spook Country are scheduled (see the Ground Zero category links)

British_Museum_Great_Court.jpg

The Great Court is an elegant roofed over central courtyard, with cafés and restaurants which is open

Sunday – Wednesday 09.00–18.00
Thursday, Friday, Saturday 09.00–23.00

See Ground Floor Plan showing the Great Court, and the cafes and bars and shops etc.

The British Museum houses a vast array of exhibits, some of which may be of interest to, CyberPunk fans of Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash, such as cuneiform clay tablets and seals from ancient Sumeria etc.

Science Museum - The Difference Engine & The Science of Spying

By
Memetic Engineer
on August 12, 2007 11:38 PM |

Science Museum
Exhibition Road
South Kensington

Science_Museum_map.gif

GPS grid coordinates:
Latitude: (WGS84) N51:29:51 ( 51.497488 )
Longitude: (WGS84) W0:10:28 ( -0.174507 )

Apart from the general Computing section, there is special CyberPunk interest in the working model of Charles Babbage's mechanical computing device, the Difference Engine, which is on display.

Ada, Countess of Lovelace, was one of the first "computer programmers" who helped Charles Babbage to program his prototypes.

Both of these historical figures also featured in William Gibson and Bruce Sterling's "SteamPunk" novel The Difference Engine

The main Computing display also includes a scaled down working model of a machine called Pilot ACE. This was was Alan Turing Blue Plaque in Hampton High Street, in the outer London suburb of Richmond, which is where he lived during that period.

Alan Turing was also one of the pioneers of computer based Artificial Intelligence, giving us the Turing Test, so popular in science fiction. The "Turing Institute", which supposedly regulated advanced Artificial Intelligences (AIs) , features in WIlliam Gibson's famous CyberPunk novel Neuromancer

The Science Museum also has an example of the hand cranked Curta Calculator, as featured in William Gibson's Pattern Recognition

Also, The Science of Spying exhibition (until 2nd September), is aimed at children of all ages, and covers techniques and technologies of espionage and surveillance, and the basic science which supports them. [This exhibition is now closed]

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Hints and Tips for Whistleblowers

Please take the appropriate precautions if you are planning to blow the whistle on shadowy and powerful people in Government or commerce, and their dubious policies. The mainstream media and bloggers also need to take simple precautions to help preserve the anonymity of their sources e.g.

Zero history blog

Zero History blog - http://ZeroHistory.net

- documenting and analysing William Gibson's current novel in progress, with some London / UK locations already.

Spook Country blog

Spook Country blog - htpp://SpookCountry.co.uk

This documents and analyses William Gibson's novel Spook Country which has some London locations, and from which this London CyberPunk Tourist Guide was spawned.

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