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The Natural History Museum in London, England has some 80 million objects, which date as far back as 4.5 billion years. They have over 300 scientists and recently reported publishing 700 papers in conjunction with others outside the UK. The museum first opened 18 April 1881. It's origins date to 1753 and the collection of Sir Hans Sloane purchased by Parliament.
What I recall from decades ago is the impressive great entrance hall (Hintze Hall). The impressive blue whale skeleton is 25.2 metres long.
I expected to see dinosaur skeletons and was impressed by the animation--wishing my grandchildren could enjoy the presentation too. See the clip below from YouTube.
A couple more dinosaur displays.
More treasures in the Great Hall.
I am fortunate to have a granddaughter interested in rocks, gems, and fossils. She would have a field day at this museum's collection. Here's a few examples.
I sent my granddaughter a photo of the largest blue topaz on display. The Ostro stone weighs 2 Kilos and is 9,381 carats, nearby are cases of minerals and gems. Link to story.
More treasures
It's fitting that the museum would place English scientist Charles Darwin in a prominent place.
This specimen of a Giant Sequoia is from a 100- metre tall tree in California, USA. The tree was cut in 1891.
I couldn't resist this photo of an old bird. It is a reconstruction of a life-size Dodo from parts of a skeleton. There are drawings and paintings of the bird from the 1600s. The last sighting was 1662. Height = 1 metre, weight 10.6 to 17.5 kg.
The journey to the earth's core represents considerable creativity on the part of the museum staff.
The display of human origins was a bit disappointing because of its limited scope. But there are a couple of standouts: Lucy and Cheddar Man.
Lucy is the nickname for a female skeleton found in East Africa in 1974. She dates from about 3.7 million years ago. You can read more on the museum website.
Cheddar Man's skeleton was found in England in 1903. He dates to about 10,000 years ago. He's been classified as a Mesolithic hunter- gatherer. Read more here.
I created a video overview of some of the specimens and two dinosaur presentations. You can find it on my YouTube channel- SuttonTravels.
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