recipes for wonder at the Royal Institution!

The Royal Institution (or the Ri) was founded at the end of the 18th century by the leading scientific minds of the time. It still hosts the original laboratory of Michael Faraday, the father of electromagnetic principles, and the annual BBC Christmas Lectures by the leading minds of today, including Professor Stephen Hawking.

Sir James Dewar lectures on liquid hydrogen

The famous Lecture Hall at the Ri has hosted scientific demonstrations of world-changing technologies, such as electromagnetism, lasers, and the miner's lamp.

Apparatus used in liquid hydrogen demonstration

The Ri fosters a love of science in young minds and brings it closer to people who used to consider science complicated or uninteresting.

Aside from the Christmas lectures, the Ri offers talks on the legacy of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, how teeth reveal human evolution, and how play helps create young scientists.

Michael Faraday lecturing on electromagnetism

Our favourite thing about science is that it's never afraid to poke a little fun at itself, and even a historic society like the Ri likes its cartoons. An experiment with laughing gas, producing 'unfortunate results', is immortalised in this cartoon by James Gillray.

In the spirit of the place, I drew my own cartoon to commemorate that day's lecture - Mr. Shaha's Recipes for Wonder. Science teacher and author Alom Shaha led a group of bright young minds in the methods of questioning, observation and experimentation.

We loved the calm, studious atmosphere of the Ri and look forward to this coming year's Christmas lectures - and to another visit!