My London experience: Natural History Museum

The Natural History Museum is an amazing place. It encompasses the natural history of our planet from the creation of our solar system to the present, explaining how it was created, the natural forces that shaped it, how life appeared, evolved, and affected it. Charles Darwin, who's statue oversees the museum's central hall, would have been very proud of it.

As with many other museums in London, this one is also particularly concerned with educating its visitors through fun and interaction. Small scale experiments can be conducted by the visitors to help them explore how nature works, and technology, videos, and recorded sound material are widely used to further our understanding.

There's even an earthquake simulator, where a room decorated as a Japanese supermarket (the simulation takes the Kobe earthquake as reference) shakes under your feet, while the video recording from an actual Kobe supermarket, hit by the earthquake, is being projected. From experience, I'd say that the earthquake simulation reaches a magnitude of about 4-5 in the Richter scale.

I particularly appreciated this concern on behalf of the London museums to provide education combined with fun. It shows a clear interest to win the children's attention, entertain them, and help them learn willingly. That's why many museums are filled with excited kids running around, joyously interacting with knowledge. The Natural History Museum in particular, must be especially popular with children; there were huge lines outside the building, and rarely could one see an adult unaccompanied by a child.
Personally, I felt like a child again and had great fun (apart from the times competing with the kids for access to the interactive features, the little critters were glued to them).


The museum's exterior; a beautiful building if you ask me (high Victorian architecture).




It's central hall, dominated by the Diplodocus cast, and Charles Darwin statue in the background.




A virtual globe, where a spectacular narration about Earth, life upon it, evolution, and environment is projected.




Entrance to the Red Zone (the section about the history of Earth itself and its geology). An elevator takes you up and into its secrets.




Giant Sequoia tree, felled at the age of 1300, around the time the Panama Canal was opened (early 20th century). There are dates of important events marked on its trunk, comparing its lifespan with our own history. For example, when Columbus sailed to America, the tree was 900 years old. A silent observer of our ephemeral endeavours.




A blue whale, fresh from the sea.



And not as fresh as the above, prehistoric marine life...





An ancestor of the modern dolphin.




The remains of a Neanderthal.




to be continued...