Natural History Museum London England

 

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.

Related Posts / Places

Visiting the United Kingdom

Visit London England

Field Museum, Chicago Illinois

Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, Washington DC

American Museum of Natural History, NYC

If interested in British-American culture, please check out my book Mind the Gap available on Amazon   and   Google

Download a FREE SAMPLE

My website:  www.suttong.com

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

The Natural History museum is one of the best in the Smithsonian group in DC.

We enter into the round court where we are greeted by a large African Elephant, which has been present for years.


We are impressed by the Ocean gallery where there are many exhibits from ancient fossils to recent discoveries. Fish and other sea inhabitants range from the microscopic to the massive whales.





The mammal hall houses a collection that has been present for years.






The human origins hall provides an interesting overview of human evolution and interactive "cave video" presentations.





One special exhibit featured wildlife photography.











Other galleries contain butterflies and other insects, birds, and a few dinosaurs (the dinosaur and fossil hall will re-open in 2019).




Some displays are hard to view because of the low light or glare from the placement of lights and reflections off the enclosed exhibits.

The museum stores have reasonable prices.

Food and drinks are available in food services. There are several restaurants a little north of the museum.

Food and drink were not permitted in the museum galleries (except for water) when we visited.


Check the website for current hours and other information like changing exhibits.

Connect Geoffrey W. Sutton

Museum website http://naturalhistory.si.edu/

PLACES TO VISIT IN WASHINGTON DC

Here’s a few places to see along with some photos and links to information.

United States Capitol

White House

National Archives

Library of Congress

Supreme Court

National Zoo

U S Botanic Garden

Union Station

Monuments and Memorials

Washington Monument

Lincoln Memorial

WW II Memorial

Vietnam War Memorial

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial

Museums

American History

Air and Space Museum

Natural History Museum

Postal Museum

National Art Gallery

National Postal Museum

Holocaust Museum

National Museum of the American Indian

National Museum of African American History and Culture

And here’s my webpage  www.suttong.com

And some books I have published

My Travel Blog

My YouTube Travel Site

American Museum of Natural History NYC

Filled with quality crafted dioramas, the American Museum of Natural History brings nature's wonders into the city.

We arrived in NYC 5 September 2016. Due to storm Hermine, we arrived a day early with no plans. We were required to disembark for passport control so we decided to take in a museum. It was a pleasant day so we decided to walk the approximately 2.5 miles from Pier 90 on the Hudson (near 50th St) angling east and north past Fordham University and the Met to the Museum, which is on the West side of Central Park at 79th Street.

I've visited the American Museum of Natural History a few times since my childhood but it had been several years. The dioramas and audio-video presentations reveal considerable improvements.

There really are a lot more to see than large mammals but it's hard to get good photos of gems and precious metals in glass cases. So more mammals.

I must say I was impressed with the anthropology room.

By mid-afternoon we had reached our limit but walked back to our ship hotel for the evening meal.

Tips and Notes

Public transportation stops are nearby.

You can purchase tickets online or from automated booths in the lobby area.

It opens at 10:00 daily- closes at 5:45 pm

The museum meals are expensive compared to nearby restaurants.

There are a lot of places to rest and watch videos or just have a long look at an interesting exhibit.

The toilets were clean and well maintained.

There are downloadable apps

Paper maps are available on entry.

We found the staff friendly and helpful.

There's a nice size museum shop with some reasonably priced gift items for people of all ages.

Parking is awfully expensive- check online- but why would you want to drive in Manhattan?

Connect

Website www.suttong.com
Facebook page Geoff W Sutton

Twitter @GeoffWSutton