NOT many people know that the Royal Institution gave London its first one-way street. A night out at the RI was one of the hottest tickets in town. Charles Dickens, Prince Albert and every other Victorian celebrity fought for front-row tickets to hear Humphry Davy and his fellow pioneers of science. Their carriages so thoroughly clogged Albemarle Street that in 1808 they were instructed to proceed one way only.
Isn’t that a good question for a pub quiz? And perhaps that’s where popular presentations of science should be these days. Traditional science lectures are still put on with the intention of reaching out to the public…
