I was in London a few years ago, I'd dreamt of going to the Science Museum since I was a kid and finally got to go...I was deeply unimpressed however finding myself with time to kill I walked up the road and visited the Natural History Museum which was completely and utterly brilliant, it would have been worth the trip to London just for that in hindsight I wish I'd gone there first since you could easily kill an entire day wandering around looking at some of the amazing exhibits.

No. Iain M Banks and Neal Asher among others are writing good thought provoking and enjoyable books.