Description of the attraction
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 no need to try to inspect it in one day: there are 32 million exhibits here.
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. The largest building with neo-Romanesque corner towers was designed by architect Josiah Cleveland Cady. The 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 animal skeletons. The museum was not rich and almost suffered a financial ruin. 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 increased eleven times, the donation fund 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 rex.
The museum is divided into several thematic halls, each of which is impressive in size and richness. The Dinosaur Halls are home to 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 Hall of Minerals displays hundreds of unusual geological specimens, including the Patricia emerald (632 carats) and the Star of India sapphire (563 carats).
The strongest impression is made by the Center for the Study of Earth and Space - it is located in a giant transparent cube, in which illuminated spheres soar. Here is the Hayden Planetarium with high-resolution equipment that allows you to make exciting "journeys" into the depths of space. Inside the main sphere is the "Cosmic Route" - a 110-meter long trail through which the visitor gets acquainted with the history of the Universe. One step along this path means 84 million years of the evolution of the world. 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 mankind on this scale occupies a segment the thickness of a hair.
