History of Science in Cambridge - audio tour
Here you can find links and downloads for the history of science and mathematics in Cambridge audio tour that is in production for Cambridge Festival 2022 and beyond. All the contributions have been designed for a general audience so, although the experts who wrote them could have gone deeper, we hope they will be accessible to everyone. Transcripts and a map are available to download here. These will be updated as well.
If you are using the tour and walking around the city, please take care on slippery cobbles and when crossing roads especially watch out for cyclists! Don't forget to take the time to look around you and imagine what those who walked the parks and streets before you would have seen, heard, felt, and found inspiration in. You'll notice that Trinity College is a main centre-point - you might find it interesting to discover why this might be!
All the places on this tour have public access, or are visible from public streets. For access to specific museums and colleges, please apply to them individually.
This project wouldn't have been possible without the generous support of Cambridge University Press authors and scholars from around the world and I am so grateful for their help and enthusiasm. We hope this will be an insight into a Cambridge you might not know and that it will inspire you to find out more about the City and its people.
Update 10/4/22: activated: Darwin in Cambridge
Update 21/4/22: four new audio tracks added to the tour (Three remarkable Girton mathematicians and Roger Long at Pembroke) and an updated collection of maps and transcripts.
Update 9/7/22: added Darwin's Notebooks to the tour.
Upcoming additions to the trail include:
Stephen Hawking
Alan Turing
Srinivasa Ramanujan
The further adventures of Bertrand Russell
Michael Atiyah and the Isaac Newton Institute
- remastering of current and upcoming tracks
- additional detail to map including more locations and route suggestions
List of contributors and their pieces:
Jenifer Glynn: Rosalind Franklin at Newnham College and After
Caroline Series: Phillipa Garrett Fawcett and Newnham College
Caroline Series: At Trinity College: Arthur Cayley and Mathematics for All
Caroline Series: At Girton College: Charlotte Scott and Mary Cartwright
Sally Lee: The Botanic Garden and John Stevens Henslow
Bernard Linsky: At Trinity College: Bertrand Russell and the Principia Mathematica
Patricia Fara: A Walk Along Free School Lane
Patricia Fara: On the Newton Tree at Trinity College
Edward Gillin: At Trinity College: William Whewell and "The Scientist"
Paul White: At Christ's College: Darwin in Cambridge
Paul White: Darwin's Correspondence at Cambridge University Library
Paul White: Darwin's Notebooks at Cambridge University Library
Joshua Nall: A Perspective on Free School Lane
Tom Körner: "Wranglers" at the Senate House
Soraya de Chadarevian: At Crick's House: Watson And Crick In Cambridge
Ruth Williams: At Girton College: Bertha Jeffreys
Liba Taub: At Pembroke College: Roger Long
Find out more:
There is a special collection of related books (and gifts!) on our website and a free-to-access version of The Whipple Museum of the History of Science, edited by Joshua Nall, Liba Taub & Francis Willmoth on the CambridgeCore website.
Some useful websites:
The Darwin Correspondence Project - Cambridge University Library
Trinity College Library Blog - Treasures from the Collection
Cambridge University Botanic Garden
The Cambridge Philosophical Society
The Wellcome Collection has lots of photographs including the James D Watson collection. Have a look at this: Outside the Golden Helix, the Crick's home in Portugal Place, Cambridge (from the James Watson collection, with Francis Crick and others, c. 1950-59). Wellcome Collection. In copyright
Massive thanks to the wonderful writer and illustrator Anna Doherty for her work on the map and portrait sketches.
