Museum of Science and Industry

The Electricity Gallery lets you peer into the past of the technology that changed our lives. Learn about the principles of electricity and look at early electric machines, such as electric shock machines used in medical treatment.

Recreated kitchens and living rooms of the 1930s and 1950s show how electricity tranformed our homes. The Gallery's central feature is an English Electric turbo-generator, installed in Bolton's Back o' th' Bank Power Station in 1923. On the top floor, Energy for the Future explores the pros and cons of nuclear power and renewable sources of energy.

You will also find displays about Manchester's vital role in computer development. See half of the world's most powerful calculating machine of 1935. It was designed by Douglas Hartree at the University of Manchester and made by Metropolitan-Vickers in Trafford Park. Another large exhibit is the Pegasus 1 mainframe computer, made in 1957 by Ferranti Ltd in West Gorton.