The Science and Natural History Museums

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Today was all about the museums! I like museums, but I didn't realize how much I was going to really enjoy these museums. Our first stop was at The Science Museum. It actually focused mostly on technology and engineering, but it was still neat. I first explored the large exhibit on steam engines and learned a ton there. I briefly checked out the section on space, which was super interesting but would have taken a long time to really delve into, and then I went into the back section. It contained a hodge-podge of developments that included some telescopes, medical equipment, and more. We were supposed to find Dorothy Hodgkin's model of penicillin (which was tucked up in a corner), but we stumbled upon Watson & Crick's model of the double helix first. Later, when I met back up with the rest of the group, I found out the professors were pretty excited about that find.

Afterwards, I went upstairs to a mathematics wing, which I just loved. Its purpose was to explain how math is used in everyday life. There was a small section on gambling, tracking odds, and selecting random numbers. There was a section on models used to help understand the economy and national debt. There was another section on the standardization of weights. It was all pretty cool. We didn't have a ton of time there because we had a tour booked over at the Natural History Museum. So, after the mathematics section, I met up with the rest of the class, and we split in half. I went with the group that headed to a Thai restaurant, and the other half of the group checked out a burger joint. The Thai food was very good, but we learned that English Thai is definitely different than American Thai! I ended up with a green curry that was good but didn't really remind me of any Thai I'd had before. Max found a lot of interesting food items in his dish, including some sort of muscle, and some spirally sea thing we couldn't begin to identify. It was an experience!

After lunch, we walked back to go to the Natural History Museum (it's next door to the science museum). We had about half an hour to explore on our own before we were due to meet our tour guide, so I took off and bee-lined it to the human evolution section. I was so interested in this stuff that I couldn't understand why no one else from the group was heading there, too. Am I the odd ball? No, it must be them. Well, human evolution is what I studied for undergrad, and I was excited to see what would be included. I walked in and spotted an Australopithecine skull on my left, and there was a model of a Neandertal on my right. I realized, to go chronologically, I should start left and move around the exhibit clockwise. I didn't have much time, and there was a small group in a nook to my left. I almost didn't enter that part of the exhibit. I'm so glad I waited a moment. When the group left, I stepped in and saw the cast of the Laetoli footprints. These footprints, I knew, demonstrated that Australopithecines were bipedal and walked like humans. Next to it was Lucy. I was floored, and so excited. I had no idea it was there at London's Natural History Museum. Lucy has fascinated me since I was a child, and it's the whole reason I studied what I did. I snapped a picture and texted my husband and my professors. It was awesome. After the Australopithecus afarensis area, I went over to the Australopithecus africanus section. It was small, but that's to be expected because A. africanus is not likely a direct ancestor of ours. They are interesting, though, as an ancient hominid. Anyway, I was checking out teeth and such of A. africanus when I spotted Taung child. I just couldn't get over that this relatively small part of the museum that was tucked away in the corner had such significant pieces available to see. As I moved a bit deeper into the exhibit, there were displays of various Homo species. Thinking back on it, I'm not sure I saw a display on Homo habilis. The first Homo display I remember seeing was a comparison in the bodies of a male Cro Magnon versus a male Neandertal. The Cro Magnon man was tall and lean, whereas the Neandertal model was short, stout, and had a defined brow ridge. I did note that they listed both as separate species in this museum. Further in the Neandertal section, they had a Neandertal burial to see. It was a deliberate burial site. There was also some artwork from early Homo sapiens. I was running out of time, but the display on H. heidelbergensis and H. erectus were after the Neandertals for some reason. Then, at the end, they did a facial reconstruction of each Homo species next to their corresponding skulls. It was fantastic.

I had to leave to go meet the tour guide, but he didn't disappoint. Rob was a bit eccentric and a lot of fun, but also very knowledgeable. Apparently, he often does LGBT tours of the museum, and so he said he works hard to undo a lot of the "straight-washing" we get in our education. For example, at one point in the tour, when we were checking out some extant animal specimens, he informed us that male giraffes normally engage in male-on-male sex, and they really only will mate with females when they're ovulating. He also briefly talked about the mating habits of bonobos, which I was already familiar with but was happy to talk with him about. We also went over to visit extinct animal specimens (he made sure to point out all the dodos), and we learned about many of our human behaviors and their negative effects. For example, we checked out the fossil of an island bird that was quickly hunted to extinction when humans arrived. Then we also learned, by killing off that flightless bird, we also killed off the species of eagles that lived there, because the bird was its food source. We then briefly examined and compared a large number of insects before delving into the ideas of Darwin. We talked about him, and we also talked about Alfred Russell Wallace (his butterflies were on display). I'm pretty sure Lamarck came up at one point or another as well, as did Mary Anning and Georges Cuvier.

At the end of our excellent tour, we said goodbye to our tour guide, and most of us went back to the pub from last night to grab what was supposed to be a quick dinner. It turned into about a two-and-a-half hour meal. I was going to walk back to the hotel, but I wasn't confident in my London navigational abilities yet. So, I decided to join everyone else when they took the metro to King's Crossing, where they literally ran to find platform 9 3/4. There were photographers there to take people's pictures running into a magical Hogwarts wall, and there was also (surprise!) a gift shop. I actually got a kick out of it all, even though I'm not really a Harry Potter fan. When that was done, I went back to the hotel with two of the undergrads, and the rest of our group went to Piccadilly Circus. I had a lot of school work and rest to catch up on, so it was good to get back!

Also, there are loads more of my pictures from the museum below this post. Just scroll down to see more.

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Photos

Lucy.
Australopithecus afarensis

The Natural History Museum
from the second floor

...and platform 9 3/4
I went to the Harry Potter train stop, and all I got was this really crappy picture. I guess I didn't even wait for Baylee to run into the wall.