Harvard Museum of Natural History
Encyclopedia
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
on the grounds of Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
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It has three parts:
- the Harvard University HerbariaHarvard University HerbariaThe Harvard University Herbaria and Botanical Museum are institutions located on the grounds of Harvard University at 22 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts...
- the Museum of Comparative ZoologyMuseum of Comparative ZoologyThe Museum of Comparative Zoology, full name "The Louis Agassiz Museum of Comparative Zoology", often abbreviated simply to "MCZ", is a zoology museum located on the grounds of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is one of three museums which collectively comprise the Harvard Museum...
- the Harvard Mineralogical MuseumHarvard Mineralogical MuseumThe Mineralogical and Geological Museum at Harvard is located on the grounds of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts and is one of three museums which collectively comprise the Harvard Museum of Natural History.-References:*...
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The museum is physically connected to the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology
Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology
The Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology is a museum affiliated with Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.Founded in 1866, the Peabody Museum is one of the oldest and largest museums focusing on anthropological material, and is particularly strong in New World ethnography and...
and one admission grants visitors access to both museums.
Museum contents
The Harvard Museum of Natural History was created in 1998 as the “public face” of three research museums — the Museum of Comparative Zoology, the Geological Museum, and the Herbaria—with a mission to enhance public understanding and appreciation of the natural world and the human place in it. Museum exhibitions draw on Harvard University’s natural history collections; Harvard’s research faculty provides unparalleled expertise; and an array of programs for members and the general public sparks a lively exchange of information and ideas, founded in the spirit of discovery. With more than 180,000 visitors annually, the Harvard Museum of Natural History is the University’s most-visited museum.In the Museum’s permanent galleries, visitors encounter the rich diversity of life on earth, from dinosaurs to fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
invertebrates and reptiles, to large mammals, birds and fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
, and the only mounted Kronosaurus
Kronosaurus
Kronosaurus is an extinct genus of short-necked pliosaur. It was among the largest pliosaurs, and is named after the leader of the Greek Titans, Cronus.-Discovery and species:Kronosaurus lived in the Early Cretaceous Period ....
. The mineralogical galleries present a systematic display of meteorites, minerals and gemstones
Gemstones
Gemstones is the third solo album by Adam Green, released in 2005. The album is characterised by the heavy presence of Wurlitzer piano, whereas its predecessor relied on a string section in its instrumentation.-Track listing:#Gemstones – 2:24...
. The galleries also house the historic Blaschka
Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka
Leopold Blaschka and his son Rudolf Blaschka were German glass artists, known for the production of biological models such as the Glass Flowers.-Early life of Leopold:...
glass models of plants, popularly known as the Glass Flowers
Glass Flowers
The Glass Flowers, formally The Ware Collection of Blaschka Glass Models of Plants, is a famous collection of highly-realistic glass botanical models at the Harvard Museum of Natural History at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts....
. In addition, a series of changing exhibitions bring focus to timely subjects, often featuring the work of world-renowned nature photographers.
The Museum’s educational programs encourage a hands-on, observation-based approach. With a growing reputation as a source of unique and effective science education and a successful partnership with Cambridge public schools, the Museum welcomes increasing numbers of school children and their families to its programs each year.
Public lectures are another of the Museum’s primary activities. Each year, over twenty free presentations by Harvard biologists, international conservationists, and popular authors lead their audiences to a closer look at current issues in the world of science and nature.
A robust travel
Travel
Travel is the movement of people or objects between relatively distant geographical locations. 'Travel' can also include relatively short stays between successive movements.-Etymology:...
program complements the museum’s mission to enhance awareness of the natural world. Traveling in small groups often led by Harvard science faculty, Museum travelers experience exotic destinations that are of particular importance as recognized hotspots of biodiversity.
The museum is member-based, with over 3,200 current members, primarily from the Boston metropolitan area. While the Museum is affiliated with the Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences and receives important support from the University, it derives most of its operating income from admissions
Admission to an event or establishment
Admission to a journey or other event or establishment may be subject to paying an entrance fee / buying a ticket. A pass may give admittance without a ticket for a given time period, or give the right to obtain free tickets. A discount pass allows buying tickets at a reduced price...
, membership, gifts, and programmatic revenues.