Mr. Joel

I love the American Museum of Natural History. It’s one of my favorite places ever. Now, it might not be my favorite museum, that would be the Kelvingrove in Glasgow, but it is still utterly fantastic. I always find something worth looking at and learn something worth knowing.

I love the tribal costumes:

Now, I really wonder what circumstances these were acquired under. Some parts of the museum really has that feeling of colonial chauvinism and cultural theft. I have no real evidence that it’s true and I do really enjoy looking at all these get ups. They make me smile every time and feel a little afraid.

I love the Earth room:

When you get right down to it, I love the Earth. This is an amazing planet. Did you know that 25-30% of the heat in the core of the Earth is residual energy left over from the creation of the planet. Yeah. That’s awesome. They also have an ice core sample and a sand table that shows exactly how the Earth’s crust folds up when one tectonic plate moves under another in a subduction zone. Which is how we end up with all those wavy strata lines.

Do you see this biodiversity room:

It is intense.

The giant whale:

This is one of the best rooms. Hands down. Now, the eerie blue light adds to the appeal, but seeing that huge whale after going through the biodiversity room really offers a staggering perspective on just how insignificant human beings are. Seriously. It also makes staring at artificial fish very interesting. Mesmerizing even.

The shiny:

I have a hard time even imagining that stuff like this occurs naturally. It’s like magic to me. I just have to take it on faith that the geologists are right on this one, because it’s not like we can sit down ad watch it happen. Wondrous.

The prehistoric animals:

Hahaha, look at that guy. He’s older than the Himalayas.

Now, of all these are awesome. But strangely, they are not my favorite things in the museum. Not by far. Rather ironically, my favorite things at the American Museum of Natural history are some of the oldest seemingly outdated displays in the whole building.

The models and dioramas. Somehow, nothing does as good a job holding my interest and explaining a historical situation as a good old fashioned diorama.

You need to know what Ur might have looked like back in the day? Bam. done. Why do these little tableaus have more didactic staying power than digital displays?

Well, I think that the fact that most of these are bird’s eye perspective is fantastic for taking in the whole picture.

Also, the fact that this display system seems like something of a throwback, whether or not they are actually old) makes these somewhat nostalgic. (Also, isn’t that little guy on the magic carpet fantastic? He’s not just painted on the background, he’s suspended in the air.)

And they’re just more real. I empathize with these hypothetical historic people way more than if they were CG creatures. I mean, they’re living in a house made of bones.

What’s not to love?