Talk:Natural History Museum

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1 New expansion
2 I have added two amazing pictures
3 Title
4 Corridor
5 Sydenham
6 Category for employees

[edit] New expansion

I've expanded the article considerably, added sections, and updated some of the old info. I've kept almost everything that was there, except trimming a few bits. More to do tomorrow, including spellcheck, some formatting, re-organising pics and adding a couple of my own, and referencing. Feel free to comment. Loxlie 01:57, 16 March 2007 (UTC)

Ok second phase of expansion is complete, with lots new text, bit more restructuring, and spellcheck. I reordered the pics to slot into the sections, and to put the two headline pics - of the famous exterior and central hall - into the intro section. (I know the header section is a bit unusual in layout now, but seems to work fine at all window widths. Please discuss here before changing.) For the couple of pix I took out - I'm happy to insert a gallery at some point and put them back in there, unless there's objection. I've got plenty more myself, but ran out of space. What's missing IMO:

sections on the library and picture archive (I'm happy to do that at some point)
description of research activities, past and present (including role in identification of many species, theories, and conservation work etc.)
current economic/political background
maybe some more mention of historical context, conflicts (eg. Owen vs Darwin), and other events.
the section on the Tring museum should have lots more and a pic or two - maybe even a page of its own.

Anything else? Loxlie 08:34, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] I have added two amazing pictures

I have added the picture of the hanging skeletons and the picture of the monkey face. It's a good way to illustrate a more enjoyable side of the museum.

Onofre Bouvila 12:57, 22 February 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for the pics. Love the monkey skeletons. The head pic needs a better caption I think - I've removed the old one. Could you add something more specific? I'd also like to add a pic or two (some behind-the-scenes ones), so we might have to think about space. Loxlie 01:57, 16 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Title

"Natural History Museum" is a rather generic title. There are several notable museums of natural history with that title. [1] [2] The one in LA is fairly famous as well. Therefore this page should be a disambiguation page. But what should we name the British Natural History Museum? Is British Natural History Museum OK, or something more formal/specific? The one in LA would be either Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County or Los Angeles Natural History Museum... --mav 05:36, 22 Nov 2003 (UTC)~

The London one is, I believe, the original Natural History Museum. As far as I know it's never been called by any other name. Calling it "The British Natural History Museum" might imply a connection with the British Museum that no longer exists. Lee M 01:46, 2 Jan 2004 (UTC)

The British Museum certainly does still exist. It's between Tottenham Court Road and Holborn and recently had a huge new glass roof put in. Clinkophonist 12:41, 15 December 2005 (UTC)

Others should go on Natural History Museum (disambiguation), with a note to that effect at the head of this article. Andy Mabbett 18:19, 11 Jul 2004 (UTC)

I know this is an old discussion, but just to note the article Natural history museum for the concept of an NHM (note the capitalisation) - and Category:Natural history museums which lists others. As the list seems to show, no other NHM seems to just use NHM as its official title. (It's a bit like postage stamps - the UK invented them so they get the right to not have to specify the country. :) ) Loxlie 01:23, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Corridor

I believe the internal corridor linking the Science Museum and the Life Galleries may now be closed. Can anyone confirm? Lee M 04:05, 30 May 2004 (UTC)

The Science Museum is now an entirely separate entity. A shame in some ways.

The Science Museum NEVER had a corridor connecting it to the Life Galleries. You are thinking of the geological museum, also known as the "Earth Galleries", which is next door to the Science Museum, and is still connected. Clinkophonist 12:42, 15 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Sydenham

Anyone know about a collection at Sydenham (Crystal Palace) in the 1850s? I am struggling to make sense of this Dinosaur Cartoon in Punch? I thought the Great exhibition spun off part of the Nat Hist Museum??

The dinosaur sculptures at Sydenham by Waterhouse Hawkins (depicted accurately in the Punch cartoon, although now known to be hugely anatomically incorrect) were never part of the collection that went to South Kensington. See The Crystal Palace#Attractions. They survived the Crystal Palace fire of 1936 and survive to this day. They were even used in a Guinness commercial, in which Rutger Hauer stood next to one of them and muttered, "if it didn't exist you'd have to invent it" (referring either to the dinosaur or to the beer). Lee M 19:22, 30 Apr 2005 (UTC)