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..