In 1963, the Science Museum opened a maritime exhibition called the Shipping Galleries. It showed all sorts of amazing engineering feats, from the ship that broke Brunel, to the stunning battleships that ruled the waves. Unfortunately, it had to be closed in 2012 to make way for new exhibits, but not before it was laser scanned. This stunning, moving 3D fly-through tour is one of the results.
I remember the Shipping Galleries from when I was a kid, marvelling at the incredibly detailed models of the immense ships. I recently revisited it as an adult, just before the museum shut it down and was still in awe at what I saw. While it wasn't just British engineering, it certainly showed how much of an impact our little island nation had on the waves of the world. We were a seafaring people and genuinely changed the world. In fact, if it wasn't for the Great Eastern, that first transatlantic telegraph cable wouldn't have gotten laid and we may never have had it develop into the internet as we know it.
The full point cloud will be released to the public next year, which should mean the Galleries will live on forever in a digital form, but for now, take a trip though them with curator David Rooney. I can think of a few worse ways to spend 7 minutes of your Tuesday afternoon. [Science Museum]