Natural History Museums

[paul m]

The Natural History Museum in Kensington is one of the greatest working collections in the world: inaugurated by Queen Victoria -

Quite an extraordinary building as well as being a comprehensive source on biology (that's the Life Sciences half - there's also the Earth Sciences section next door).
Some weeks back a new section opened: the Darwin Centre which allows you to see behind the scenes and goes into more detail about how and why museum collections are made.

All very impressive.
Natural History Museum

[paul m]

It would be nice to have a list of natural history museums - not just the great institutions such as the BM(NH) and the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle in Paris (Site officiel du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle) but all the small ones spread around towns and cities of the world.

Any suggestions for good ones? Any specialities? Anything really unique?

[Tynanatior]

the irish national history museem is curenly closed as its being made even better i cnat wait till it opens agin so i can go

[paul m]

Originally Posted by Tynanatior

the irish national history museem is curenly closed as its being made even better i cnat wait till it opens agin so i can go

That's a useful warning. We were thinking of going to Dublin in the Spring and would have been disappointed to find a locked museum; Thanks!
It says it will re-open in early 2010 - wonder when 'early' is?

History and Architecture

[Beverly Stayart]

Thanks for sharing this info. and the beautiful pics.

[paul m]

Originally Posted by Beverly Stayart

Thanks for sharing this info. and the beautiful pics.

You seem to have at least one N.H.M. in your state - Welcome to the Cable Natural History Museum
Any good?

Wikipedia has a world list including thirteen in USA. I'm sure there must be many more:
Category:Natural history museums - Wikimedia Commons

[goosey]

Leiden has an excellent Natural History museum by all accounts (I haven't been but maybe Arp has and could tell us more?). My youngest went about 5years ago with a birthday party and loved it there and raved about opening owl pellets at the time and examining the contents, and lots of things to be able to touch and do.
A link in English to Naturalis
The architecture isn't on a par with that of the The Natural History Museum in Kensington but I doubt many would be but it is what to do and see inside that is the main thing.

Here in Ijmuiden we have a small natural history museum geared up for young children and schools. They do lots of work in the area with kids and have many themes and exhibitions throughout the year. It has recently moved (to make way for a block of flats ), the old one had a wonderful wildflower garden which was just great to sit in and do nothing but watch the insects and birds. The last time I went I took the same daughter and her mate as they were keen to see an exhibition which was on there - I didn't know what until we got there and it was all about Poo! I had never seen or joined in sniffing so much poo in my life!

[paul m]

Not quite a natural history museum but dedicated to the study of humans so pretty close; the Pitt Rivers Museum is attached to the Oxford Natural History Museum. I didn't have time to explore it but there are three floors of densely packed artefacts:

It's rather like an enormous flea market.
I mention it because today would have been the birthday of Augustus Pitt Rivers who started collecting all the stuff in the first place. [I think he also collected names: born (at Bramham cum Oglethorpe, Yorkshire) as Augustus Henry Lane Fox, when he inherited the fortune of Henry Pitt (Baron Rivers), he added Pitt-Rivers to his names.]
Must go and look around there some time ....

[paul m]

While not as large as the Kensington Museum, the Oxford NHM was built on a quite grand scale, specifically viewed as a cathedral to natural science.


There's a very good gallery on insects - taxonomy, behaviour, whatever, including some live exhibits. Of course, there's a lot more behind the scenes: the University holds the second largest insect collection in the UK:
O.U.M.N.H. Entomology

[paul m]

The Berlin Natural History Museum is a very large building, much of it devoted to a vast collection and to research buildings.

It is now part of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and has had the local U-bahn station renamed which is fine on some maps but the names on the platforms have not all been amended!

There has been a lot of renovation but funding is still clearly a bit of a problem. The exhibits are somewhat eclectic and variable in quality: there is an excellent hall of minerals and rooms of human evolution (with information translated into English ) and meteors (you can particpate in this by laying on a large circular sofa while a meteorite descends on you - if you really want .... ). There's also a good, comprehensive exhibit of plant fossils which you don't see too often.

Museum für Naturkunde Berlin

[goosey]

Originally Posted by paul m

..... and meteors (you can particpate in this by laying on a large circular sofa while a meteorite descends on you - if you really want .... ).

Were they real meteorite or something simulated .

Did you not fancy it Paul, sounds intriguing, I would pay a visit purely for that .

[paul m]

Originally Posted by goosey

Were they real meteorite or something simulated .

Did you not fancy it Paul, sounds intriguing, I would pay a visit purely for that .

This was in a stair-well so the meteorite started up on the third floor. The customers (mainly school students) looked up towards a simulated meteor descending with timing, countdown and comments (in German so I didn't understand most of them). You couldn't see much unless you were on the sofa. I wasn't around when it actually 'landed' so don't know what happened ....
I think it was a very good ruse to keep twenty or more youngsters in one place for half an hour ... if not exactly still or quiet!

People certainly seemed to enjoy it and the experience was linked with exhibits of meteorites: chemistry, metallurgy, genesis &c..

[paul m]

The lower part of this building has recently been rebuilt as an aquarium: very well done with cleaned glass, good labelling and out of the ordinary exhibits.


It's easy to be cynical about natural history museums - what else would you do with all those stuffed animals? However, they can serve a useful purpose and most have certain quirky, unique parts.

There is a good exhibit here about extinction: including how the most likely things to become extinct are those which people don't even notice and uses the example of a slug, Arion simrothi:


If you can't stop people killing whales how do you get them to worry abou a slug?

[paul m]

The Rotterdam NHM is in the museumpark - a collection of museums and galleries: all very convenient for tourists! Museumpark Rotterdam - archipedia - architectenweb.nl

There's suitable stuatuary in the grounds:


Much of the museum content is standard bones and stuffed animals:


However, there's a quirky exhibit on canaries - their forms, selection and history:

Unfortunately, information labels are only in Dutch so not so interesting as might have been to me.

[goosey]

Originally Posted by paul m

The Rotterdam NHM is in the museumpark - a collection of museums and galleries: all very convenient for tourists!

However, there's a quirky exhibit on canaries - their forms, selection and history:

Unfortunately, information labels are only in Dutch so not so interesting as might have been to me.

That is unusual about the lables not being in English, especially in a city like Rotterdam, very disappointing.
Amsterdam and other tourist orientated places have all signs and labeling in a host of languages and info leaflets to pick up where you pay in other languages. Some places have tour audio tapes in other languges to listen to as you go round or electronic boards, press the relevant flag and up pops the info.

[paul m]

Yes, rather surprised me from what I remember of Amsterdam. I'd got used to multilingual labelling in Belgium and Germany (even five languages at some places in Luxembourg - I don't know why they didn't go for the set and throw in Italian and Polish! ); even French museums tend to use at least one other language. Well, can't criticise the Rotterdammers too much, maybe it (multilingual signing) will catch on in UK one day .

I suspect that the Naturalhistory Museum is not on the general tourist trail ...

Originally Posted by goosey

That is unusual about the lables not being in English, especially in a city like Rotterdam, very disappointing.
Amsterdam and other tourist orientated places have all signs and labeling in a host of languages and info leaflets to pick up where you pay in other languages. Some places have tour audio tapes in other languges to listen to as you go round or electronic boards, press the relevant flag and up pops the info.

[paul m]

The Natur Museum in Luxembourg Ville has (fairly) recently been renovated. As well as stuffed animals, it has good exhibits on genetics and the geological evolution of the Earth and its place in space. Also has an excellent coffee bar!

[paul m]

The British Natural History Museum is currently photographing and uploading pictures of their complete collection of beetles and bugs - should make a great resource.
The beginnings at:
Flickr: NHM Beetles and Bugs' Photostream

[paul m]

Not being content with one natural history museum, Cambridge has two (three, if you count the Whipple Museum of the History of Science - mainly astronomy). There is the older Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences -

and the newer Natural History Museum of Life Sciences.

[paul m]

Much more modern than the Geology Museum.

[goosey]

Museonder This is a small underground natural history museum in the Hoge Veluwe National Park, Gelderland in The Netherlands.
The museum starts on the ground floor then is under ground on two more levels

It is modern and with interactive bits, signs and descriptions are in English and German as well as Dutch. Some of the exhibits have head phones and you choose a language for the description of what you are seeing.
Most of what you see is the natural history of the Hoge Veluwe itself but there are things about The Netherlands ground water, some geology and what goes on in the depths of the earth including a earth tremor simulation.
There are also films with subtitles about the NP flora and fauna and the change of the seasons.
What seems obligatory stuffed animal and bird exhibits, but done beautifully in a natural setting with audio of their call and song. As you walk there are glass panels on the floor so you can see how various things underground are like a foxes earth complete with fox and cubs.

My favourite bit is part of root system of a 135 year old beech tree which is suspended from above.


Here is another image if it ( I can only add 10 images to the post)

http://www.wildabouttheworld.com/gallery/data//519/thumbs/2011-04-02_museonder_25_.JPG


Tree trunks so you can see the difference of the bark.



Giant model of a tiger beetle.



A wall of screens, x-rays and draws with more exhibits pertaining to what you are seeing on the screen.



Archeology - these are seen under glass you walk over.



Bones and skulls.




The hand rail which runs down to level -1 must be at least 10m long and is the trunk of a tree. I imagine some sort of pine - I expect there was a sign but I didn't think to search it out.



The root of the hand rail -
http://www.wildabouttheworld.com/gallery/data//519/thumbs/2011-04-02_museonder_23_.JPG


This is what you see of the Museonder from the outside. The wavy bit is the cover over the path you use as you leave the museum and enter the visitors center.

[paul m]

On the top of my list for when I next visit Holland! Plenty there to keep you occupied - thanks for the tour!
I wonder why more public buildings aren't built downwards? It would put architects out of a job, I suppose.

Originally Posted by goosey

Museonder This is a small underground natural history museum in the Hoge Veluwe National Park, Gelderland in The Netherlands.
The museum starts on the ground floor then is under ground on two more levels

[paul m]

Originally Posted by goosey

.........A wall of screens, x-rays and draws with more exhibits pertaining to what you are seeing on the screen.


........

Continuous X-rays in a public place? Are we referring to the bottom rack? I should think that these are scanning elecron micrographs ... or perhaps I've missed something.

[goosey]

Originally Posted by paul m

Continuous X-rays in a public place? Are we referring to the bottom rack? I should think that these are scanning elecron micrographs ... or perhaps I've missed something.

They probably are, I just thought they looked like x-ray's which had been enlarged . I am not a technical person .

[paul m]

There is an old and large Natural History Museum in Bordeaux although currently closed for repair work.

Something to look forward to.