Thinktank, Birmingham(formerly known as simplyThinktank) is ascience museuminBirmingham,England.Opened in 2001, it is part ofBirmingham Museums Trustand is located within theMillennium Pointcomplex on Curzon Street,Digbeth.
 The Science Garden at Thinktank | |
  Location in West Midlands | |
| Established | 2001 |
|---|---|
| Location | Millennium Point,Birmingham,England |
| Coordinates | 52°28′58″N1°53′10″W/ 52.482908°N 1.886058°W |
| Type | Scienceandindustry |
| Visitors | 243,069 (2019)[1] |
| Website | www |
History
editTheBirmingham Collection of Science & Industrywas started in the mid-19th century, initially consisting of collections of weapons from theguntrade and theBirmingham Proof House.TheBirmingham Museum & Art Galleryopened in 1885, including science collections. In 1951, theMuseum of Science and Industryopened atElkington Silver Electroplating Works,Newhall Street. Over the following years, the museum acquired individual artefacts, as well as entire collections, that were related to local industry and the history of science and technology.[2]
Birmingham City Councildecided in 1995 to relocate the museum[3]when it was given an opportunity by theMillennium Commissionto construct a new building.[4]The former museum closed in 1997,[2]and Thinktank opened on 29 September 2001[5]as part of the £114-millionMillennium Pointcomplex.[5]It was funded by Birmingham City Council, supported by theMillennium Commission.[6]The area adjacent to the building is designatedEastside City Park.[7]While many objects were put on display at Thinktank, others were stored at theBirmingham Museum Collection Centre,and some were brought out of storage.[2]
Although the previous science museum was free to enter, Thinktank charges an entrance fee.[5]In 2005 the museum underwent a £2 million upgrade, including the installation of a planetarium.[8]By 2007 it had received over 1 million visitors.[6]In April 2012,Birmingham Museums Trusttook over governance and management responsibility for Thinktank, along with eight other sites.[9]
In March 2015, a new "Spitfire gallery" opened, relating the displayed aircraft to their production, locally.[10]Among the new exhibits are aleather flying helmetpreviously belonging toHelen Kerly,one of only two British civilian women commended for flying during theSecond World War.[11]
Collections
editAircraft
edit| Photo | Item | Description |
|---|---|---|
 |
Supermarine Spitfire Mark IXc | ML 427, built in 1944, gifted by theAir Ministryin 1958.[12]Suspended from ceiling.[13]It was one of around 10,000 Spitfires that were manufactured atCastle Bromwich.[14] |
 |
Hawker Hurricane Mark IV | Number KX829. Built in 1943 byHawker Aircraft Ltd,later owned byLoughborough College of Technologyand given to the museum in 1961.[15]Suspended from ceiling.[13] |
Locomotives
edit| Photo | Item | Description |
|---|---|---|
 |
46235City of Birmingham[13] | ALMSPrincess Coronation Classsteam locomotive,built in 1939, and given by theBritish Railways Boardto the museum upon withdrawal in 1966.[15] |
 |
William Murdock's model steam carriage | 1784 |
Trams
edit| Photo | Item | Description |
|---|---|---|
 |
Birmingham Corporation Tramwaystram395 | The only surviving Birmingham tram.[16] |
Cars
edit| Photo | Item | Description |
|---|---|---|
 |
Railton Mobil Special[13] | |
 |
Mercedes-Benzcar[16] | Manufactured byStar Motor Company,Wolverhampton, in 1898, given to the museum in 1965.[17] |
 |
Lanchester petrol-electric car | Designed and manufactured byFrederick William Lanchesterin 1926. Given to the museum in 1961.[15] |
 |
Austin 7 | Austin 7 Tourer car, Registration number XO 4133. Built in 1923, owned by the factory until 1944 before passing to private ownership, given to the museum in 1975.[16][18]It is the ninth oldest example of the ~300 remaining.[14] |
 |
Morris Mini-Minor | Registration number XEW 583, built in 1959, purchased by the museum in 1982.[16][17] |
Stationary steam engines
editThinktank, Birmingham Science Museum has a big collection of stationary steam engines. The following are some examples of them:
| Photo | Item | Description |
|---|---|---|
 |
Belliss Steam Generator | Dating from 1891, designed byAlbert Charles PainandAlfred Morcom,given byBelliss & Morcom Ltdin 1982.[19] |
| Crossley Vertical Atmospheric Gas Engine | Dating from 1873, designed byEugen LangenandNicolaus August Otto,given by T A W Clarke Ltd in 1976.[19] | |
 |
Galloway Uniflow Engine | Dating from 1924, designed byJohann Stumpf,given byHovis Ltdin 1956.[19] |
 |
Corliss Mill engine | A horizontal tandem compound steam, with Corliss valve gear. Made by Pollitt & Wigzell of Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire, England. Formerly at the University of Manchester.[20] |
 |
Easton & Amospumping engine | Used from 1894 until the mid-1950s, at the Old Kent Road Gas Works, London, for pumping coal gas. |
| Murray's Hypocycloidal Engine | Made around 1802,[21]third-oldest working engine in the world.[16]Given byN. Hingley & Sons Ltdin 1961.[21] | |
 |
Smethwick Engine | The oldest working engine in the world,[13]designed and built byJames Wattin 1779, and in use until 1891. The engine was donated byBirmingham Canal Companyto the museum in 1959. It was awarded a heritage award plaque by theInstitution of Mechanical Engineersin 2014. It is run on steam power for several days each year, and its water lifting feature is demonstrated daily.[22] |
 |
Steam Pumping Engine 'Rollit' | Built in 1883, manufactured byJames Watt & Co,Birmingham, given in 1958.[19]Named forAlbert Rollit,Mayor of Hull. |
Other machines
edit |
Woolrich generator | The world's first heavy electrical machine[16] |
 |
Button shankmaking machine | One of the earliest machines that was designed to manufacture a specific product.[16]Designed byRalph Heatonin 1794, powered by steam, and made nearly 750,000 button shanks a day back in 1851.[14] |
Displays
editThinktank has four floors of over 200 hands-on exhibits and artefacts. Each floor has a theme, in general going from the past, inThe Past(Level 0), throughThe Balcony(Level 1) andThe Present(Level 2), to the future, inThe Futuregallery (Level 3).[23]It has lost its theme as new items have been added.
| Photo | Level | Gallery | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
0: The past | Boulton and Watt[CLOSED] | Display of objects relating toJames Watt,Matthew Boulton,William Murdochand associates, including other members of theLunar Society.This area has since been removed. |
| 0: The past | Move It | Vehicles that were built in, or used around, the Birmingham area, including bikes, cars, trams, trains and planes.[13]The gallery includes a pair of robots that display how a car isspot-weldedduring construction.[citation needed] | |
|
0: The past | Power Up | The museum'ssteam enginecollection.[13]There is a display further on in the exhibition explaining the history of Boulton and Watt, and how they developed their engines. Other steam engines in this exhibition are those that have been used for pumpingsewage,generatingelectricity,agricultural work and teaching. There is also a display explaining how power is currently generated by asteam turbine.[citation needed] |
|
1: The balcony | We made it | This gallery contains over 20 interactive exhibits and 1200 objects showing the history of Birmingham as "the workshop of the world", covering the production of everyday goods from raw materials to finished product. It is split into four sections: "Nuts and Bolts" on iron and steel goods, "Treasure" on precious metals and gemstones, "Tins and Things" on aluminium and decorative glass goods, and "Gadgets" on modern devices made of plastic and wood.[24] |
| 1: The balcony | Spitfire Gallery [CLOSED] | A new gallery focused on the Spitfire is now open.[25]It features a history of the Spitfire and its manufacture atCastle Bromwich,artefacts such as engine parts and flight suits, as well as hands-on exhibits including a model of a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, designed by Arthur John Rowledge (1876–1957). Unfortunately, due to its weight of over 900 kg, the museum's Griffon engine, fitted to later Spitfire versions, could not be put on display[26]This has been closed also. | |
|
2: The Present | Things About Me | This exhibition is aimed at younger children, helping them to understand how their own body works, and how to keep it working. It is a bright and noisy gallery. There are small characters called TAMs (after the gallery name), who act as guides throughout the museum.[27] |
|
2: The Present | Wild Life | This is a living history gallery containing insects, birds and mammals, as well as fossils.[27]Taxidermied animals include apolar bear,[28]agreat aukand a pair ofhuia.[29]Skeletonsinclude agiant deer.[30]Fossilsinclude aTriceratopsskull.[31] |
|
2: The Present | The Street | The Streetis designed to show visitors how science affects their everyday life, and how objects they see around them work.[27]There is a Recycling Plant, which may close down as it has a few problems with the electronics. |
|
2: The Present | Kids' City [CLOSED] | Kids' Cityis an exhibition that has been designed for small children, aged 7 and younger. It is more of a play area than a traditional exhibition but also contains a garden with water feature, a health centre, café, as well as an animation studio featuringShaun the Sheep.[27] |
|
2: The Present | Medicine Matters | Medicine Mattersis an exhibition that contains displays on modern medicine and medical breakthroughs,[27]including current medical practices and the moral dilemmas that occur, while other exhibits cover DNA, epilepsy, genetics, vaccination and personal health.[citation needed] |
| 3: The Future | Futures | TheFuturesgallery deals with the impact of science, technology and medicine, both at present and in the future.[32]The interactive gallery includes display screens, controlled with trackballs and buttons, with a "Futures" unit surrounding the space and a "Space Mapper" unit in the middle.[33]There is also a "Talking Point" area about future projections by scientists, as well as "Create an Alien" and "RoboThespian"exhibits, which lets you program the robot to do whatever you want![32] | |
|
Outdoor | Science Garden | The Science Garden is an interactive outdoor space with over 30 exhibits. It also includes an outdoor classroom for shows and school workshops. It is located in front of Thinktank, and forms part of theEastside City Park.[7] |
|
3: --- | Planetarium | ThinktankPlanetariumopened on 17 December 2005. It was Birmingham's first planetarium,[6]and the UK's first purpose-built digital planetarium.[14]Its opening coincided with the closure of theLondon Planetarium.[6]It has 70 seats, and the projection dome is 10 metres (33 ft) in diameter.[8]The main operating system is Digistar 3. Six 1400×1050 DLP projectors, each connected to a PC, work together to produce a hemispherical image 3200×3200 pixels in size.[citation needed]In its first year it received 60,000 visitors,[6]and in August 2014 it received 17,000 visitors.[34]
It is used to display stars as they would appear from on Earth at any point in time, and to simulate travel to the stars.[8]On 4 August 2014 it was used to project the night sky as it would have appeared on 3 August 1914, as part of aWorld War Imemorial event.[35]Aside from projecting stars, digital planetariums can fill the dome with 360˚ of sound and video, and are therefore also known as immersive cinemas or 'fulldome' theatres.[citation needed]The planetarium displays films about space and the night sky, thehuman bodyandundersea exploration,as well as music and light shows.[34][36]In September 2014 it was used to provide a live link withTim Peakeat aEuropean Space Agencytraining camp as part of aBritish Association of Planetariaconference.[34]The Planetarium can be noticed if you look closely in the Minibrum Area. |
Surroundings
editThe museum shares theMillennium Pointbuilding withBirmingham City University,and is situated in theEastsidedistrict. It lies nearAston Universityand theGun Quarter– which was for many years the centre of world's gun-manufacturing industry. Immediately opposite areThe Woodman,a public house, andCurzon Street railway station- both listed buildings.
References
edit- ^"ALVA - Association of Leading Visitor Attractions".alva.org.uk.Retrieved9 November2020.
- ^abc"Our Collection".Birmingham Stories. Archived fromthe originalon 12 February 2015.Retrieved7 March2015.
- ^"Archive of our city's great past".Birmingham Evening Mail.24 May 2001. Archived fromthe originalon 29 March 2015.Retrieved20 February2015– viaHighBeam Research.
- ^"Future Looks Bright for Millennium Museum".The Birmingham Post.4 February 1998.[dead link]
- ^abc"Think Tank for the millennium".BBC News.7 September 2001.Retrieved5 March2015.
- ^abcdeGreat Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Science and Technology Committee (22 October 2007).The funding of science and discovery centres: eleventh report of session 2006-07, Vol. 2: Oral and written evidence.The Stationery Office.pp. 134–135.ISBN978-0-215-03662-9.Retrieved5 March2015.
- ^ab"Science Garden".Thinktank.Retrieved7 March2015.
- ^abc"State Of The Art Planetarium Opens At Birmingham's Thinktank".Culture24.16 December 2005.Retrieved5 March2015.
- ^"West Mids accountants appointed by largest independent museums trust".Commercial News Media. 22 July 2013.Retrieved5 March2015.
- ^Young, Graham (26 March 2015)."First look at Birmingham's new Spitfire Gallery at Thinktank - Birmingham Post".Retrieved27 March2015.
- ^Cole, Paul."Mystery of the Spitfire Heroine".Birmingham Evening Post.
- ^"Transport (set 4)".Birmingham Stories. Archived fromthe originalon 2 April 2015.Retrieved7 March2015.
- ^abcdefg"Discover the Past".Thinktank.Retrieved7 March2015.
- ^abcd"11 amazing things the Thinktank can teach you about science in Birmingham".Birmingham Mail. 20 March 2014.Retrieved7 March2015.
- ^abc"Transport (set 2)".Birmingham Stories. Archived fromthe originalon 2 April 2015.Retrieved7 March2015.
- ^abcdefg"Thinktank Birmingham Science Museum".Automuseums.Retrieved7 March2015.
- ^ab"Transport (set 3)".Birmingham Stories. Archived fromthe originalon 2 April 2015.Retrieved7 March2015.
- ^"Transport (set 1)".Birmingham Stories. Archived fromthe originalon 2 April 2015.Retrieved7 March2015.
- ^abcd"Engines (set 1)".Birmingham Stories. Archived fromthe originalon 2 April 2015.Retrieved7 March2015.
- ^Birmingham Museums Trust accession record 1955S00557
- ^ab"Engines (set 2)".Birmingham Stories. Archived fromthe originalon 2 April 2015.Retrieved7 March2015.
- ^"World's oldest working steam engine is Birmingham Museums Trust's Object of the Month for March".Birmingham Post.3 March 2015.Retrieved7 March2015.
- ^Thinktank What's On Leaflet, 2013
- ^"We Made It".Thinktank.Retrieved7 March2015.
- ^"Spitfire exhibition to open at Birmingham's Thinktank".Birmingham Post.22 November 2014.Retrieved7 March2015.
- ^"Chocks away for Spitfire exhibition at Birmingham's Thinktank Museum".Birmingham Mail. 6 February 2014.Retrieved7 March2015.
- ^abcde"Investigate the Present".Thinktank.Retrieved7 March2015.
- ^Birmingham Museums Trust accession catalogue. Accession number: 1959Z00458
- ^Birmingham Museums Trust accession catalogue. Accession number: 1973Z00048
- ^Birmingham Museums Trust accession catalogue. Accession number: 2001Z00065
- ^Birmingham Museums Trust accession catalogue. Accession number: 1958G00003.00001
- ^ab"Find the Future".Thinktank.Retrieved7 March2015.
- ^"Paul Maguire • biography • projects • thoughts • information".Retrieved19 January2015.
- ^abcElkes, Neil (5 September 2014)."Live link up with British astronaut at Birmingham science event".Birmingham Mail.Retrieved5 March2015.
- ^"Remember to take part in the WW1 memorial event Lights Out today".The Mirror.4 August 2014.Retrieved5 March2015.
- ^"Planetarium".Thinktank.Retrieved5 March2015.
External links
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