Friday; The Oxford Science Walk

This plaque commemorates an Oxford policeman who was treated with penicillin who had terrible abscesses and boils and was given penicillin. His disease went into remission, but he died because the supply ran out.

I have no idea why the footpath to the right is called "Deadman's Walk, but so it is. It leads to the back of Merton College which is  #4 on our tour.
OK -  it was probably only an excuse. We didn't get back in time for evensong at Christ Church. We tolerated a Marks & Spencers take-out microwave dinner in the flat, and we settled into reading our issues of the Times and The International Herald Tribune. Then, Elaine gave me a copy of a booklet she found in Jill's travel folder which was entitled "The Oxford Science Walk". I was transfixed with all the scientists I have always adored that had hooks to Oxford (including Thomas Hooke) and we decided to dedicate all of Friday to exploring that walk. The map of the walk is in the panel to the left. Might I say that the booklet is for sale at Blackwell's and is published by Science Walk Publications, 35 Marston Street, Oxford OX4 1JU. Our pictures are our own and only the map to the left is scanned from that publication.
#1. Botanic Garden. The picture above is of the maze garden in front of the Botanic Garden. We decided not to pay the fee since it was not open yet and we had only one day to do the whole walk. But, we did see #2, which is the Penicillin Memorial. (Picture left.) It was tucked in the midst of the shrubbery of the maze and we would have missed it except for the booklet. It seems that penicillin was developed by a team of scientists in Oxford in the run up to W. W. 2. 
But first, we must pay homage to #3 James Sadler. This plaque is on the wall of Deadman's walk toward Merton College. James Sadler was the first Englishman to rise in a balloon in 1784. Actually, we lived in Merton House in Cheltenham for three years because the owner was a graduate of this very old college.

This is the chapel of Merton College from the street. We couldn't get into the college because of construction or something. Too bad. It is perhaps one of the oldest colleges in the world, founded near the end of the thirteenth century.
#5. Elaine is standing under a plaque dedicated to Robert Boyle/Hooke. Boyle, of course, discovered Boyle's Law of fluid dynamics.
This is the courtyard of All Souls College. Remember that sundial we pointed out from the tower of St. Mary's?
We did get close enough to the chapel to see this old sundial. That point half way up the picture must tell the hour. Good thing it was a sunny or we wouldn't have known the time. Claire and Jerry came back to Oxford to hear an organ concert in this chapel. Oh well. Perhaps another trip. 
Boyle's law explains why after you are stuck in a traffic queue of two lanes of traffic, your speed roughly doubles after the two lanes compress to one lane. If you don't believe this, just think of a hose nozzle.
This college was CLOSED! But we managed to get enough of a toe into the court to get this 8x telephoto picture. Not bad!
This is St. Peter-in-the-East courtyard -- now a library. The plaque just to the right of the window is dedicated to Jacob Bobart, the first keeper of the Botanic Gardens. Note the flowers and leaves that surround the totally weathered center. The tombstone of James Sadler, the first English balloonist. Remember his plaque earlier.
The booklet next instructed us to return to Queen's lane and look up at the gargoyles of New College. My telephoto and the Nikon stitching software allowed me to take the picture above showing all four on the sunny side of the tower.
Many people believe that the masons simply copied their fellow workers when they designed these gargoyles.  Could be. Here are some of the other ones that I took under less-than-optimum lighting conditions. And Elaine wouldn't let me complete this part of the photo log without showing a close up of the fellow with the money bags. That must have been a replica of the paymaster, don't you think? He looks pretty evil.
These are the pinnacles of All Souls College. We saw them from that tall tower in the center.
The Bridge of Sighs. Same story as in Venice. Prisoners taken through it sighed at their last sight of freedom.
This is where Edmond Halley lived when he observed his very own comet and predicted exactly when it would return.

This is the front of St. John's chapel

These are two interesting gargoyles on St. Johns exterior

and this is the organ at the back.
and these are two tired tourists having a Guinness and lunch.
We are now at the University Science Museum. We've been here before, and if you want a reminder, click here and return. 
This is a life size sculpture of on of England's greatest Scientist Charles Darwin. Despite the fact that he faced opposition from clerics, and was an admitted agnostic, his body rests in Westminster Abby next to that of  -->
This is the skeletal foot of a Tyrannosaurs Rex. 
This display really impressed me. It begins with a pig, front-right and goes back through larger and larger animals ending with an elephant. Current animals, not ancient. Great education. Kids must really love this.

This is the lower jaw of an 88 foot whale in full vertical display. I must say that although the Smithsonian in Washington perhaps exceeds this one in variety, the displays here are really well done.

 

                Above, another glassed dinosaur and wheelchair.

Isaac Newton. Elaine was really amused with this statue. Note Isaac's puzzled expression as he gazes below. Clearly, he is looking at an apple, that apparently dropped from some uncultured tree.  Neat!

 
We ended with a tour of the Pitt Rivers Museum. The entrance is pictured above, but the interior is totally stunning.
I took this from one of the ledges at a very long exposure -- 1/2.5 sec. at f3.2. I only wish I had time to really study all of the exhibits. They spanned science from the beginning of time to the recent past with marvelous displays and very entertaining explanations. This will certainly be one of the places we visit on our next visit -- without my camera and determination to photograph everything.

We had two more places to visit in the Oxford Science Walk. It was getting late, and we had a Sabbath concert to attend. We had to rush.
 
But the really interesting display is the actual blackboard that Albert Einstein used in the second of three lectures that he gave in Rhodes House in 1931. 
#9. The museum of the History of Science is the old Ashmolean Museum which opened in 1683 to house the collection of Elias Ashmole. It had a lot of complicated historical scientific instruments, such as the ones pictured to the left. 
Finally, we had one more place to find before our return to the flat to begin our Friday Sabbath, #15 on the map. There was a hard-to-find plaque commemorating Roger Bacon, on a wall of what is now a huge shopping mall. His friary where he made so many investigations has been engulfed by the Westgate Shopping Centre. But we found the plaque behind a tree just where the booklet said. It's a little hard to read, but try --  it is very moving.

Our Friday Sabbath Concert

We have been looking forward to this evening all week. I was prepared to put all my troubles into the Sabbath box, sit back and enjoy an excellent string orchestra presentation of Hayden and Mozart. To see the program again, look here.  Well, I might be Jewish in spirit, but not orthodox Jewish. I'm afraid I failed to put my camera into the box and I took these two pictures below of the interior of the Sheldonian Theatre. See Elaine down there. 
This is a view of the magnificent organ. But the usher that took me up here confessed to me that they are replacing it with an electronic organ -- made by the same company that made the electronic organ at Worcester Cathedral. But there, the old organ was parked in a transom and  did not project.  Here, the soon-to-be replaced instrument must sound great. I think upkeep cost is the primary issue.
The Sheldonian from under the Bridge of Sighs.

Elaine and I were particularly interested in attending this event since in 1996, the Washington Chorus Touring Choir sang Vivaldi's Gloria and Faure' Requiem in this space. We had a larger orchestra in the center and we filled the balconies on all sides of them. This concert was really spectacular and the small self-directed orchestra had to return several times for applause. They made a plea to come to more of their concerts. I think all of England is suffering from lack of American tourists.

Next -- Saturday, our last full day in Oxford.