Museum of Science and Industry

Our collections relate to the working lives of many of Manchester's leading scientists, inventors and innovators. Some of these people, such as the scientist James Joule, are still famous today. Joule gave his name to the international standard unit of energy (1 calorie = 4.184 joules) and to two physical laws (Joule's First and Second Laws). The scientist John Dalton was a Manchester celebrity in his day and when he died, 40,000 people went to see his body lying in state at Manchester Town Hall.

John Benjamin Dancer, who made scientific instruments for Joule, was the inventor of microphotography and the stereoscopic camera. During his life, he was only famous in scientific circles, but in 1960 America's National Microfilm Association awarded the Dancer Pioneer Medal as a 'posthumous Medal of Meritorious Service to the microfilm industry'. Similarly, Dr Kathleen Drew-Baker achieved little fame in Britain, where her work on the life cycle of nori seaweed had little impact. In Japan, her work helped to save the seaweed industry and she is commemorated by a bronze statue in a Tokyo Park, where there is an annual ceremony of appreciation.