History of science

The first ever prototype of Davy’s miner’s safety lamp. Created in 1815, it prevented the methane gas present in the depths of

From the collection

The first surviving Faraday apparatus, dating from 1822, demonstrates his work in magnetic rotation. Faraday used this mercury

From the collection

Faraday created the first transformer in August 1831. A few months later he designed and made this simple piece of apparatus

From the collection

Made by Faraday in his laboratory in the basement of the Royal Institution in August 1831, thus creating the first ever electric

As we celebrate the bicentenary of Faraday's invention of the electric motor in 1821, our Head of Heritage and Collections

Science is continually changing with new findings and discoveries. When people reject these findings, we end up in a position

Jane Harrison delves into our archive of audio recordings and explains how you can help preserve this unique legacy of our

Kathleen Lonsdale was an Ri scientist, Quaker and pacifist, whose ground-breaking research in crystallography was conducted