Who’s not curious about the secrets of the Universe? What happened to the dinosaurs and who are our forerunners? Fortunately, the American Museum of Natural History in New York City has the answers. Since 1869, this cultural institution is dedicated to discover, interpret, and disseminate information about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe through a wide-ranging program of scientific research, education, and exhibition.
Culture requires time
If you think to get away with this trip in a couple of hours, you are wrong. The museum has 5 floors, with a path that starts from the Big Bang and retraces human history, passing through the first living creatures, the dinosaurs, and all the way to our ancestors.
Besides, almost a whole floor is dedicated to show preserved animals in their natural environments. I found it useful because it gave me the opportunity to discover and watch for the first time many species that I had seen only in films before. Very often some predators as bears, tigers, and leopards are mystified and represented as big as monsters, but this is not the truth. So open your eyes wide while you walk through the black forest, because your beliefs built upon films could fall down miserably.
Abandon all hope, you who enter here…without a guide
Of course I visited the museum without a guide to save money, but if I could go back in time…
There are too many things to see. Every wall, every corner is filled with some artifacts, statues or bones.
If you go without a guide you risk to lose the focus and waste your time. My eyes didn’t know what to watch and what kind of information to read, so, at the end, I just skipped and went ahead.
In my opinion this fact represents a weak point. I prefer less stuff, clear information and a path to be able to focus your attention on something specific. In this way you are able to save money and not to rent a guide, even because the prices are high, at least for Italian standards (a basic ticket for adult: $22; for students $17). But the most important thing is that at the end of the tour you go home with a new knowledge in your pocket.
So the American Museum of Natural History is not an easy peasy journey. They designed the layout in order to show you as much stuff as possible. It represents an unmissable opportunity to hunt new knowledge and discover new things. Take your time and enjoy the experience.
Dark universe
For an additional fee, you can attend the shows the museum has organized for that day. And of course I picked one.
You should know I’m a space lover. Do you remember the video where I brought Chick’n’Mango to space? If you lost it, you can click here to watch it.
By the way, the Dark universe show seemed to be tailor-made for me! The real surprise was to discover the planetarium, maybe the biggest I have ever seen. The perimeter of the dome reached almost the heads level, so you were literally thrown inside of the universe.
With astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson as my guide, I was able to go beyond the night sky and into deep space to find out how discoveries over the past 100 years have led us to two great cosmic mysteries: dark matter and dark energy.
WHAT DO YOU THINK
What are your favorite museums and why?
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