by SFPhotocraft

Altadena, California

September 12, 2004

The museum is located across from Central Park is majestic. When you enter, you will be greeted by large dinosaur bones. It's overwhelming to say the least.

The museum is from 10am until 5:45pm each day except for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

This summer there was an excellent exhibit on FROGS. The special exhibit cost an extra $19 and reservations were required. It was well worth it.

We saw 25 species of frogs from around the globe - we saw the Mantella frog that is less than an inch long and others, all the way up to the huge African bullfrog. It was an interesting exhibit for both kids and adults. Although we did find the space part, a little crowded.

We loved this museum and knew right away we couldn't see the whole thing. The museum is massive. We spent a lot of time with dinosaurs.

I am a fool for a good museum gift shop. They are great sources for learning tools for kids. This shop is one of the best. It's three floors and has books and models on just about anything you can imagine. We spent a lot of time in the museum shop.

This is one museum that you will want to see over and over as it changes each season. It's not just for kids, everyone will learn and grow at the AMNH.

by bgray00

Round Rock, Texas

July 29, 2004

by mkrouglova

Bradenton, Florida

June 2, 2004

by Sugz

New York, New York

December 17, 2003

One of my favorite parts is the Hall of Ocean Life exhibit, which includes a humungous life-sized blue whale that hangs from the ceiling! You can also learn about anything and everything in the sea, from octopus to fish to jellyfish to anemonies.

There are also the dinosaurs and their bones assembled together, which kids adore, and a place where you can see the stones and gems that grow inside rocks and you can touch them.

Another fantastic permanent exhibit is the space section of the museum, which includes a planetarium and a mini-movie that runs about every 10 minutes.

As a whole, there is no getting bored in this museum. It has become so hands-on and interactive that you can have fun no matter what age you are, plus it's educational.

There is also a snack bar. This place is must-see and you get so much for your money, which is often just a donation upon entrance.

by joec1234

Gilbert, Arizona

January 20, 2003

by Truly Malin

New York, New York

February 6, 2002

The quality of the lectures varies. Some seem to be targeted more toward a younger (read: grade school) audience, whilst others are so fraught with technical jargon that you wish you'd brought a dictionary – or better yet, a translator who speaks fluent scientist. My favorite by far was famed writer and neuropsychologist Oliver Sacks, who gave an engaging and charmingly awkward speech about the work that led to his 1973 book "Awakenings", on which the movie "Awakenings" was based. He described the filming of a 1974 British documentary (also called Awakenings) that was also based on his sleeping sickness patients and their miraculous, but temporary recoveries. After the lecture we attended the long overdue U.S. premiere of that documentary, which even today is rarely shown in the U.S. It contains interviews with the actual patients on which director Penny Marshall's characters are based. In 40 minutes of film, we get to know them as they awaken from their bizarre coma-like states, come to terms with a world that has left them behind, and then tragically, slip back into illness and decline.

A recent visit to see Richard Ellis speak on The Origins and Evolution of Life in the Sea was less successful. Mr. Ellis was ill prepared, and spent much of his allotted two hours showing slides of his hobby, sketching fossils, while rambling to and fro on three tangentially related topics, yet never tying them together. Still, he was an entertaining and often amusing speaker, and to his credit, he showed great restraint and good taste in not hitting up the audience to purchase copies of his latest book, Aquagenesis, which was offered for sale after the lecture. The evening wasn't a complete waste – I learned that the only other species on earth that regularly walks upright (and has the vertically-oriented spine to do so) is the penguin. Who knew!

Other upcoming lectures will cover topics such as "The Mangrove Forest" and "Emotion and the Human Brain".

Of course, if fossilized trilobites and the "aquatic ancestor theory" don't put you in an amorous frame of mind, there's always the brand new planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space. Completely rebuilt and sporting the latest in Zeiss Star Projectors, the revamped planetarium even uses dry ice to immerse you in an exciting, educational ride through outer space (narrated by Tom Hanks, no less!) Plus it's really, really dark in there.

by tcguide

New York

June 12, 2000