The Cavendish Lab and The Eagle Pub

I dedicate this blog to all my lab buddies that I worked with. YOU are the greatest people on Earth. Without YOU the medical field would be nothing! YOU are the people who figure out how this world works. YOU are the true heroes. I love and miss you all so much.

I went to Cambridge, England for many reasons but I was so surprised to find out the Cavendish Lab was there and I never even knew the Eagle Pub was there. I want ya’ll to know that getting to vist Cambridge and walk those historical streets has been the honor of my life. I feel so blessed to have been able to do this trip. And I’m so excited to be able to share this trip with ya’ll. I hope it will give all of you the desire to take a trip there. If I could go back right now, I’d be on an airplane tonight knowing all I know about Cambridge now. It is not my aim to tell ya’ll all the discoveries that came out of Cambridge that changed our world forever because that would be impossible. My aim is to make you aware that this place existed.

Ok, the Cavendish Lab first. The original lab has been repurposed so I couldn’t go in but some of the greatest minds that ever walked the earth worked in this laboratory. The electron was first discovered here by J. J. Thompson. Thompson was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1906.

Next up we have James Watson and Francis Crick. In the 1950’s, it was not clear to scientist exactly what the structure and function of DNA was although it had been found in every cell type that was researched. In 1952 an X-Ray of DNA was taken by a physical chemist, Rosalind Franklin. Franklin and another physicist, Maurice Wilkins, were studying DNA at King’s College in London. It seems there was a race on in the science world to see who could figure out the function of DNA first. As with most all scientific discoveries, there was someone who had paved a pathway before Watson and Crick discovered the double helix and that someone was Oswald Avery. In 1943, Avery discovered that DNA carried genetic information but no one seemed to know how it worked.

In the 1950’s, women in science had to put up with a lot of attitude and sexism from men and because of this Franklin was forced to work alone most of the time. It was rumoured that Wilkins showed Watson the X-ray picture of DNA that Franklin had made without her permission. When Watson saw the X-ray, it was said that his mouth fell open. When he told Crick, it advanced their understanding of DNA and they suggested that DNA was made up of two chains of nucleotides paired to form a double helix with a phosphate backbone.

Rosalind Franklin’s X-Ray picture became known as “Exposure 51.” Wilkins, Watson, and Crick shared a Nobel prize for their work in 1962. Rosalind Franklin never got any credit for her work as she died of ovarian cancer in 1958, at the age of just 37 years old, four years before the Nobel Prize was awarded. We have the Cavendish Lab to thank for TV and radio also. The Cavendish Lab was world-famous. It brought home 30 Nobel Prizes over its lifespan.

Now for how The Eagle Pub is connected to the Cavendish Lab. The Eagle Pub was opened in 1667. It was a coaching inn. A coaching inn was a place that gave rest to people traveling. It was a place for people to layover during their trips. Stables for the horses, food and drink were provided for the people. Many of the scientist from the Cavendish Lab hung out there. The Eagle Pub was considered a think tank for them. When Watson and Crick figured out the double helix of DNA, Crick ran into The Eagle Pub and declared, ” We’ve discovered the secret of life.”

I know I promised to make these blogs short but with Cambridge I just can’t live up to that promise. The Eagle pub has a long history. Most notably it’s known for the writings of the United States 8th Air Force and the Royal Air Force. They signed the ceiling by candle, lighter, and even drew a naked lady in lipstick during WWII. They did not want to be forgotten. These writings have been preserved and the writings from the RAF and US Soldiers still continue to this day.

The Eagle Pub also has a ghost story attached to it. If you look at some the pictures, you will see a window opened at the top. It has been said that a little girl, a few hundred years ago, became trapped in a fire. She couldn’t open the window and was burnt to death. When the window is closed, bad things have happened or the window opens itself so the pub owners just leave it open all the time now. I wished I had more pictures of this pub but by the time I ended my day, I had used all the space on my SD card. I left the next day and flew to Dublin, Ireland. I hope everyone goes and looks up The Eagle Pub. It was really sobering see and read all those writings.