World renowned physicist Jim Gates describes his efforts to follow such a path and create a clearer understanding to a theory ...

In 2025 we’re celebrating 200 years of the CHRISTMAS LECTURES and Ri Discourses – both landmark moments in the Ri’s rich ...

Why join the Royal Institution as a member? The Ri is a charity that brings the public and scientists together to share their interest and passion for science. We empower people to explore and get ...

From the first electrical transformer to the tube that told us why the sky is blue, view the actual objects scientists of the Royal Institution built in some of the world's most famous experiments.

Join futurist Richard Watson for a look into how we can predict what's to come, and why, despite all our technology, the future is still full of surprises. Throughout history people have been curious ...

The first surviving Faraday apparatus, dating from 1822, demonstrates his work in magnetic rotation. Faraday used this mercury bath to transform electrical energy into mechanical energy, creating the ...

Faraday created the first transformer in August 1831. A few months later he designed and made this simple piece of apparatus based on his ring, developing the first-ever electric generator. This is ...

Humphry Davy was a chemist and inventor who invented the Davy lamp and a very early form of arc lamp. He was director of the Ri from 1801–1825. Born in Penzance, Sir Humphry Davy attended Truro ...

The Royal Institution was founded to 'introduce new technologies and teach science to the general public through lectures and demonstrations'. We've been connecting people to science for over 200 ...

Lawrence Bragg begins by outlining the two contesting theories of light held in the eighteenth century: the particles theory and the wave theory. This he follows with a description and demonstration ...

The 2024 CHRISTMAS LECTURES are on BBC Four and iPlayer 29, 30 and 31 December at 9pm, and on our YouTube channel for those outside the UK. In this year’s Christmas Lectures, Dr Chris van Tulleken ...