American Museum of Natural History description and photos - USA: New York (Topic)

American Museum of Natural History description and photos - USA: New York. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photographs and a map showing the nearest significant objects. The title in English is American Museum of Natural History.

Photo and Description

The American Museum of Natural History is one of the largest and most famous museums in the world. A colossal complex of twenty-seven interconnected buildings lies across the street from Central Park. There is nothing to inspect it in one day: there are 32 million exhibits.

The museum was founded in 1869 by the efforts of celebrities, including Theodore Roosevelt Sr. (father of President Theodore Roosevelt and grandfather of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt), banker and philanthropist Morris Jesup (who financed Robert Peary's Arctic expedition), billionaire and philanthropist John Pierpont Morgan. The largest building with neo-Romanesque corner towers was designed by architect Josiah Cleveland Cady. Walls of pink-brown granite stretch along 77th Street for 210 meters, the height of the corner towers is 46 meters.

At first, the collection consisted mainly of stuffed animals and skeletons. The museum was not rich and almost suffered a financial collapse. The situation was saved by the patron of the arts, Morris Jesup, who was elected president of the museum. Under him, the golden age began here: in a quarter of a century, the exhibition area has grown eleven times, the fund of donations exceeded one million dollars. Scientific work began, the museum sent expeditions to all corners of the continent. In 1902, it was such an expedition that discovered the remains of a previously unknown to science Tyrannosaurus.

The museum is divided into several thematic halls, each of which is impressive in size and richness. The Dinosaur Halls have the world's largest collection of fossils, displaying the original skeletons of the famous Tyrannosaurus and Brontosaurus. In the “Life of the Ocean” hall, a life-size model of a blue whale (19 meters) is suspended from the ceiling. In the Ackley Hall, you can admire the dioramas of the vastness of Africa with animals that differ from the living only in immobility. Such an effect was achieved by the outstanding taxidermist Karl Ackley: contrary to world experience, he refused to stuff the skins with shavings, and painstakingly recreated the skeleton, muscles, blood vessels in each stuffed animal. In the Arthur Ross Meteorite Hall, you can see the world's largest meteorite weighing 34 tons, found in Greenland. The Harry Frank Guggenheim Minerals Room displays hundreds of extraordinary geological specimens, including the Patricia emerald (632 carats), the Star of India sapphire (563 carats).

The Center for Earth and Space Studies makes the strongest impression - it is located in a giant transparent cube in which illuminated spheres float. Here is the Hayden Planetarium with high-resolution equipment that allows you to make exciting "trips" into the depths of space. Inside the main sphere is the "Cosmic Route" - a 110-meter long trail, during which the visitor gets acquainted with the history of the universe. One step along this path means 84 million years of world evolution. Here you can see close to a cluster of stars, spiral galaxies, the Milky Way. From the moment of extinction of the dinosaurs to the end of the road - about half a meter. The life of humanity on this scale occupies a segment the thickness of a hair.

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Topic: American Museum of Natural History description and photos - USA: New York.