Showing posts with label
american museum of natural history.
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Showing posts with label
american museum of natural history.
Show all posts
The Field Museum is a very exciting place. The actual building for the museum is one of the few remaining structures from the 1893 Colombian World Exposition. The Museum of Science and Industry is also from the World' Fair. One of the first things I encountered at the museum was Sue, the famous tyrnnnosaurus rex, standing in the main atrium.
Honestly, I have a particular fondness for natural history museums. I love learning about various plants, animals, and cultures. I remember frequently going to the American Museum of Natural History in New York and loving its collection of rock and mineral specimens. The Field Museum had a very impressive display of temporary and permanent exhibitions. The museum was so huge that one day was not enough to see everything and I hope to return soon.
Sometimes when I'm in particular need of a quiet moment, I usually steal away to some of the lesser-visited galleries of the American Museum of Natural History. It reminds me in part of why I love museums--the artistry of exhibition design. On one hand I'm annoyed that some displays are outdated, dusty, and neglected. But on the other hand, I love stepping into a hallway with vintage sideboard and feeling like I've time traveled to a 1960's version of a museum. (Side note, the video on the importance of gold inside the Hall of Minerals is one of my all time favorites.) During the summer the magic of a solitary meander through the galleries is muffled by crowds of tourists, but I can only hope that come September things will return to their traditional quietness.
If you'd like to look at some extraordinary vintage photos of the AMNH check out this site.
Here are some of my photographic highlights of some of the wonderful things I've found:
Two weeks ago, John and I had the wonderful experince of going to a debate about nothing. Yep, that's right, absolutely nothing. It was a wonderful two hours of listening accomplished writers and physicists discussing Nothing (capital "N"), the contemporary philosophical and scientific understanding of the existence nothing.
The 14th annual Issac Asimov Debate was hosted by Neil DeGrasse Tyson, the director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History. Mr. Tyson was astounding. He gave the audience, and people watching live via the Internet, the footmarks and layman's translation of all the many theories and contextual elements of such a discussion. He did a wonderful job presenting the subject of the night in an entertaining and educational fashion.
What is nothing? Nothing is nothing... There is no absolute understanding of nothing. Some arguments involved gestures of space behind one's head, or dreamless sleep, or the understanding of the lack of consciousness prior to birth. Nothing in galactic terms was also difficult to explain. Can nothing exist within a vacuum? But if it's in a vacuum, then it therefore exists with something...And so on...
It was wonderful to see top experts in the field of science and philosophy discuss a topic seemingly simple, but inherently complex and perplexing. Ultimately, the realm of human comprehension extends into many fields and subjects, so witnessing such a presentation was thought-provoking and remarkable to say the least.
