Babraham Institute & Wren Library

Our latest trip with the Society for Visiting Scholars was to the Babraham Institute, located on the outskirts of town. We spent the morning learning about the cutting-edge genetic research that goes on here.


This is the original building at the Institute. The campus is in the process of expansion: the hope is that by 2010, a much-expanded campus will be evident.














Here is a picture of one of the two biotech business incubators currently in operation. Unfortunately, our trip didn't include a tour.















This building, named 'Minerva' after the goddess of wisdom, is the newest facility at the Institute. It is already filled to capacity with research firms.














After our morning at the Babraham Institute, Deb took Danny and Julie to Trinity College to see the Wren Library. It is an amazing place.


The Wren Library is located on the top floor of this building.














This picture shows one of Trinity's courtyards. The hallway you see is where Newton performed his experiment on sound waves.














Here is the inside of the library. The statue at the far end is of Byron, whose hand-written manuscripts are on view.














This is what the stacks look like in the library.













Not only are there handwritten manuscripts from the Pauline Epistles (c. 800), but writings from Shakespeare, Tennyson, Byron, A.A. Milne (Winnie the Pooh), Canterbury Gospel, Bertrand Russell, and of course, Isaac Newton.

This ledger shows Newton's expenses while he was a student at Trinity College. One of the entries is for a meal at the White Horse Inn, a pub that used to stand at the corner of Castle Street and Northampton Street.













Here is a first edition of Newton's Principia Mathematica. If you look closely, you can see his handwritten corrections, where he scratches out 'Member of the Royal Society' to write 'President of the Royal Society.' Modest, he was not.
















This is a picture of the back of Trinity College.
















Here is the River Cam behind Trinity.














In this picture, we are looking at the back of St. John's College across the River Cam and the 'Backs.'