| Founded
in 1868, this Museum is loaded with quite a bit to see.
Its one of those places where, as a child, you're bound
to visit through a school/field trip. But then so do many
of us adult children. |
 |
Walking in through the main Central Park West Entrance
you'll notice the Barosaurus mount -- the world's tallest
freestanding dinosaur exhibit. Personally,
it doesn't seem at all as impressive as what I remember from
childhood. As big as it is, it's easy to dismiss because of
the bone coloring. Also, it's just not that impressive looking.
But, you'll be happy to see what's to come within.
There are 46 permanent exhibition halls filled with artifacts
and specimens from every part of the world and from every
historical period. From fossils to bones, bones and more bones.
Some of the fossils are reproductions, but most are real (85%).
Some exhibits will really take you back in time. They cover
everything from African & Asian Peoples, Birds of the
World, and Ocean Life to North American Mammals. Meteorites,
and much more. Some of these life sized displays are convincingly
real. I never found out if perhaps some real animal hair was
used here or if this or that particular animal was actually
stuffed. When I do, I'll let you know. The previously
mentioned are just a bit of what you'll see here. In certain
sections are two types of computer kiosks created specifically
for the Museum -- Lifelines, which gives a curatorial perspective
on the evolutionary significance of the specimens; and Timelines,
which allows visitors to travel back in time. I
found them very very informative and at times, more interesting
than the actual exhibits themselves.
Within the Rose Center for Earth and Space is the new Hayden
Planetarium along with a number of other exhibition halls
and things for you to look and think about. You'll get to
see and learn about modern astrophysics, geology, planet Earth
as it existed and exists today and much, much more. |
