The Wonders of the Earth
Today I shall tell you about the Natural History Museum. It was freaking awesome. We were led on a tour by our German teacher's husband. He has been the head of the Geology and Anthropology section there for forty years. We went to the Geology rooms first. Our guide was very enthusiastic that we could name any mineral (Quartz, any gem, iron, etc), I think he usually works with younger people. The displays were intruiging, they showed the rock in its natural state, and then what humanity usually does with it. This varied from iron tools to cut gemstones. They had the largest piece of... argh, I can't remember, but it was the size of an old pc screen. A small list of things I saw: iron, slate, a giant stalamite, all types of quartz, emeralds, rubys, opals, amethysts (I love the amethysts), jasper, jade, and any stone one can think of, really. And that was just three rooms out of a very large museum.
This museum was founded by Maria Theresa's husband, Prince...Something, dang it. It is housed in a building that was originally meant to be a museum (this is a source of some pride to the people there). And it is huge, four stories, with 15-20 rooms every floor.
Then he showed us the archaeology department, they had, again, everything. We started at the beginning, of the world. We got to handle a fossilized snail shell, which is much cooler than it sounds, we handled a fossil! There were dinosaur bones, and a neat interactive thingy that showed the movement of the tectonic plates in the past and in the future. Apparently there is a 5 million year cycle in which Pangea forms and breaks apart again, it was fun to see.
There was more, he took us 'backstage' through the anthropology department (there was a skull collection that filled 10 bookcases!) and up on the roof. It had a great view of the city.
The tour ended after that, and we were free to wander until our next class. I went through the fauna collection (stuffed animals). Again, everything one could think of. I started in the birds (did you know that an albatross is the size of a large dog with a six-eight foot wingspan? I got to see that). I went back to the lizards, and through more birds, great and small. The most impressive thing about this collection is not its sheer size, but the variety it displays. There are more animals, and more varieties of animals in the world, than anyone can learn. Lizards swim, hop, slither, and crawl in a huge diversity of forms. They sport scales, smooth skin, bumpy skin, shells. And the markings! Stripes, vertical and horizontal, thin and wide, green, blue, brown, red, pink, orange, black, and white. Zigzags, diamonds, random circles, spots. If you can imagine it, it is probably out there.
Repeat as needed (adding wings, feathers, fur, beaks, and claws) to the birds, fish, and mammals. I am in complete awe of the effort it took to create this.
I am so going back there to photograph everything, In that vein, I need to go buy batteries now.
Until next time,
Greeny
This museum was founded by Maria Theresa's husband, Prince...Something, dang it. It is housed in a building that was originally meant to be a museum (this is a source of some pride to the people there). And it is huge, four stories, with 15-20 rooms every floor.
Then he showed us the archaeology department, they had, again, everything. We started at the beginning, of the world. We got to handle a fossilized snail shell, which is much cooler than it sounds, we handled a fossil! There were dinosaur bones, and a neat interactive thingy that showed the movement of the tectonic plates in the past and in the future. Apparently there is a 5 million year cycle in which Pangea forms and breaks apart again, it was fun to see.
There was more, he took us 'backstage' through the anthropology department (there was a skull collection that filled 10 bookcases!) and up on the roof. It had a great view of the city.
The tour ended after that, and we were free to wander until our next class. I went through the fauna collection (stuffed animals). Again, everything one could think of. I started in the birds (did you know that an albatross is the size of a large dog with a six-eight foot wingspan? I got to see that). I went back to the lizards, and through more birds, great and small. The most impressive thing about this collection is not its sheer size, but the variety it displays. There are more animals, and more varieties of animals in the world, than anyone can learn. Lizards swim, hop, slither, and crawl in a huge diversity of forms. They sport scales, smooth skin, bumpy skin, shells. And the markings! Stripes, vertical and horizontal, thin and wide, green, blue, brown, red, pink, orange, black, and white. Zigzags, diamonds, random circles, spots. If you can imagine it, it is probably out there.
Repeat as needed (adding wings, feathers, fur, beaks, and claws) to the birds, fish, and mammals. I am in complete awe of the effort it took to create this.
I am so going back there to photograph everything, In that vein, I need to go buy batteries now.
Until next time,
Greeny