Toying with science from King George III to Barbie (Exhibit)
"Playing with Science...Your Favorite Toys" includes curiosities from the London Science Museum's medical, science, engineering and computing collections and treasured objects from individuals including a Space Rescue game made by British-born astronaut Nicholas Patrick long before he joined NASA.
"We've got toys that show us how adults and children have engaged with science in the past -- things like chemistry sets, toy telescopes and microscopes," said Victoria Carroll, the exhibition's curator.
"We're also interested in toys which show us how changes in science and technology, or new material like plastic, change our everyday world."
Just as chemistry sets have set young budding scientists on to brilliant careers, Patrick's home-made space game complete with pencilled instructions on the board was early evidence of his interest in space exploration.
Some of the toys in the exhibit have been used by scientists in research, including psychology toys designed during the last century to test children's development and for play therapy.