History of a Natural Sort (May 2011)

The main hall of the Museum of Natural History just seems to be what a Museum should look like (yes, I used a capital letter on purpose).  It seems majestic with the elephant in the light and the stonework is wonderful.  I enjoy other museums (like the Cincinnati Museum Center's Natural History Museum which has a mastodon skeleton just inside its entrance or the Creation Museum--also with a mastodon skeleton), but this is truly a wonderful building.  I can't wait to go back and spend more time inside this Museum.  Our primary reason for visiting was to see the Hope Diamond, which Amy had never seen.  Of course the Smithsonian's site has plenty of information about the diamond, but I think this sums its history up rather well:

No doubt the fact that it has been viewed by more than 100 million people since Harry Winston gave it to the Smithsonian Institution in 1958 also contributes to its fame.

The Hope Diamond’s recent history, as recounted in the timeline on this web site, includes a stint in the French Crown Jewels, a daring theft, two recuttings, an English King, a wealthy American socialite, a bit of mystery and a curse or two.

I wasn't able to get a great shot of the gem, there sere simply too many people crowded around it.  Additionally it was constantly rotating.  It was in a special custom setting that had been installed for an anniversary celebration I think and was only visible for a limited time.  It thought it looked nice, but one of the alternate designs looked better in my opinion.  Early this year the display went back to the original setting.

While this Museum had quite a bit of interesting exhibits, it also had quite a bit of content that I'd disagree with.  The evolutionary content doesn't surprise me, but I do note it.  This image is a bonus as it features a map as well as quite a few evolutionary assumptions.

We went through the hall of mammals quickly, not because of any objection to the content, but because we had other places that we wanted to see.  Though I have always enjoyed large-scale taxidermy displays.  I'm looking forward to going back to the Field Museum some day.

I thought the Australian animal displays were fun as they are quite unique creatures.

 The shots that I took from one of the upper levels remind me of shots from the Night at the Museum movies.  I'm pretty sure that anyone who works at a Museum has enjoyed those movies and wished in some small way that they could see their museum come to life also.

 

We also spent some time inside the Castle, the oldest Smithsonian building, but I can't find any pictures from inside.  The next time we go back to DC I really need to remember to take more pictures.

Even more pictures (from the whole DC trip) are in this slideshow and Picasa album:


I think I've got one more blog post left with a few pictures from the Library of Congress.

~Matt