Visiting The American Museum Of Natural History
There are many hidden things to do in New York City
. Visiting the historical sites in the area is one of the most popular things to do.The statue of liberty alone draws hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. Another very popular place to visit is the American Museum of Natural History.
The American Museum of Natural History is located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It is one of the largest, as well as popular, museums in the entire world.
The museum is placed directly across from the famous Central Park as well. It is surrounded by park-like grounds as well.
It is made up of 25 connected buildings. There are 46 permanent exhibition halls as well as research laboratories within these 25 buildings.
The museum is also very popular for its large collection of books. The 46 exhibitions contain 32 million specimens.
At any one time only a small part of the collections that the museums houses can actually be displayed. However, these specimens are well taken care of with a scientific team of over 200 that works there.
These historical gatekeepers also sponsor more than 100 field expedition per year that contribute to the furthering of science and the collections of specimens that they and other museums have.
The American Museum of Natural History was created in 1869. Before construction of the current building, the exhibitions were actually displayed in the Arsenal building located in Central Park.
There were many sponsors in the construction of this building. Perhaps the most noteworthy contributor was Theodore Roosevelt, Sr.
This was father of the Theodore Roosevelt, the United State President. Another prominent founder was Dr. Albert S. Bickmore.
Dr. Albert S. Bickmore fought for a natural history museum to be built in New York for many years before the act was actually accomplished. However, finally backed by enough sponsors, the Governor of New York, John Thompson Hoffman, finally consented.
The cornerstone of the magnificent building was laid two years before it was completed in 1874. The building took on the Victorian and Gothic styles that were used in the creation of Central Park.
Even though the building was completed in 1876, additions continued to be added until 1930. While renovations have been made recently, very little has been added since that time.
Some of the most prized possessions of the museum include the wide arrays of African, Asian, and North American mammals. They even feature a full-sized model of a blue whale in the Milstein Family Hall of Ocean Life.
In addition, the museum features a Haida carved and painted war canoe, a 31 ton piece of the Cape York Meteorite, and the Star of India. The Star of India is the largest star sapphire in the world.
They also have enough room to dedicate an entire floor simply to vertebrate evolution. The American Museum of Natural History also features many anthropological collections.
These anthropological collections include collections from the Asian people, Pacific People, the Man in Africa, American Indians, the people from Mexico, and the people from Central America. Another famous display is the "Hall of the Age of Man."
This display features a visual representation of human evolution. In 1921 when it was created, it was the only exhibition featuring human evolution to this degree.
Today this display has been further expanded. However, it contains much of what was present in 1921 as well.
The exhibition features the 3.2 million year old Lucy skeleton and the 1.7 million year old Turkana Boy. These things help people to gain a real sense of how larger these people were.
Along with the skeletons and life-sized replicas, there is a lot of ice age art featured here. The ice age art mostly consists of horse carvings in limestone that date back to 26,000 years ago.
These are the earliest expressions of art that are known of. Another hall that is quite popular is the Harry Frank Guggenheim Hall of Minerals.
This hall is the home of hundreds of gems, minerals, and other extremely rare stones. Only a small portion of the Museum's large collection can be displayed at any one time.
However, on display there are many astoundingly beautiful gems. One of these gems is a 632 carat emerald.
This emerald was found in a mine in the Colombian Andes during the 1920s. Another giant gem is the 596 pound topaz that is on display.
You must see these magnificent things while you are visiting New York. One visit to this museum can be a life changing experience.
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