Professor Brian Cox starts the Revolution at MOSI

Professor Brian Cox has welcomed the launch of a groundbreaking new gallery at MOSI (Museum of Science and Industry) and called for more investment in creative science education.

Professor Cox said MOSI’s Revolution Manchester gallery, which is part of a £9million redevelopment project and showcases Manchester’s greatest innovations – is part of a crucial drive to inspire the next generation of young scientists and engineers.

Revolution Manchester, which includes the very latest in digital technology and interactive games, opened to the public on 29 January. It features the UK’s largest indoor video wall (50 screens) and a unique ‘digital chandelier’ which spans three floors of the converted nineteenth century railway warehouse.

Collection items, most of which are displayed for the first time at MOSI, tell the stories of how Manchester changed the world, from the world’s first commercial computer, to a model of ZETA (Britain’s first experiment in nuclear fusion), to the world’s first enclosed cabin monoplane. Six sections cover computing, science, engineering, energy, transport and industry.

Professor Brian Cox said: “Manchester has produced so many world-changing inventions and continues to be at the cutting edge of science and engineering, but it’s essential to encourage more and more young people to study science, so investment in creative science education facilities such as MOSI’s Revolution Manchester and Experiment galleries is essential for inspiring the next generation of scientists. The new MOSI is a fantastic asset to science education in Britain and will help to keep the North West’s spirit of curiosity and innovation alive.”

The gallery allows visitors to interact and interpret collection items through innovative games and hands-on exhibits. Visitors can play a simple binary code game linked to the replica 'Baby' computer (the world’s first stored-program computer, built by the University of Manchester in 1948) or send a love letter based on an early computer program, written for the Ferranti Mark I, which generated random love letters.

A game based around a model of the 1957 ZETA experiment to demonstrate nuclear fusion gets visitors to create their own energy by working together to activate a plasma animation, while a model of the Avro F aeroplane can be manipulated by the visitor to demonstrate wing warping.

To view a video about Professor Brian Cox visit to MOSI click here.

For more information about MOSI go to www.mosi.org.uk