View source for Biology:Natural History Museum, London

{{Short description|British museum established in 1881}}
{{Infobox museum
| name          = Natural History Museum
| logo          = Natural History Museum London logo (large).svg
| image         = Natural History Museum London Jan 2006.jpg
| caption       = Front [[Engineering:Façade|façade]] of the museum in January 2006
| map_type      = central London
| pushpin_map   = Central London
| former_name   =
| established   = {{Start date and age|1881|df=yes}}
| location      = Kensington & Chelsea, London, {{postcode|SW|7}}<br />United Kingdom
| coordinates   = {{coord|51|29|46|N|00|10|35|W|type:landmark_region:GB|display=inline,title}}
| type          = Natural history museum
| visitors      = 4,654,608<ref>TEA-AECOM Museum Index for 2022, ,published March 2023</ref>
| director      = Douglas Gurr
| publictransit = {{ubl|{{rail-interchange|london|underground}} {{lus|South Kensington}}|{{rint|London|bus}} Kensington Museums 360| Victoria & Albert Museum 14, 74, 414, C1}}
| website       = {{url|www.nhm.ac.uk}}
}}

The '''Natural History Museum''' in [[Place:London|London]] is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of [[Earth:Natural history|natural history]]. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum. The Natural History Museum's main frontage, however, is on Cromwell Road.

The museum is home to life and earth science specimens comprising some 80 million items within five main collections: [[Biology:Botany|botany]], [[Biology:Entomology|entomology]], [[Earth:Mineralogy|mineralogy]], palaeontology and [[Biology:Zoology|zoology]]. The museum is a centre of research specialising in [[Biology:Taxonomy|taxonomy]], identification and conservation. Given the age of the institution, many of the collections have great historical as well as scientific value, such as specimens collected by [[Biography:Charles Darwin|Charles Darwin]]. The museum is particularly famous for its exhibition of [[Biology:Dinosaur|dinosaur]] skeletons and ornate architecture—sometimes dubbed a ''cathedral of nature''—both exemplified by the large ''[[Biology:Diplodocus|Diplodocus]]'' cast that dominated the vaulted central hall before it was replaced in 2017 with the skeleton of a blue whale hanging from the ceiling. The Natural History Museum Library contains an extensive  collection of books, journals, manuscripts, and artwork linked to the work and research of the scientific departments; access to the library is by appointment only. The museum is recognised as the pre-eminent centre of natural history and research of related fields in the world.

Although commonly referred to as the Natural History Museum, it was officially known as '''British Museum (Natural History)''' until 1992, despite legal separation from the British Museum itself in 1963. Originating from collections within the British Museum, the landmark Alfred Waterhouse building was built and opened by 1881 and later incorporated the Geological Museum. The Darwin Centre is a more recent addition, partly designed as a modern facility for storing the valuable collections.

Like other publicly funded national museums in the United Kingdom, the Natural History Museum does not charge an admission fee.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1331446/Natural-History-Museum-scraps-9-fee.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1331446/Natural-History-Museum-scraps-9-fee.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Natural History Museum scraps £9 fee|website=www.telegraph.co.uk}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
The museum is an exempt charity and a [[Social:Non-departmental public body|non-departmental public body]] sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nhm.ac.uk/about-us/corporate-information/museum-governance/index.html |title=Museum governance |publisher=The Natural History Museum |access-date=14 March 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Natural History Museum|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/natural-history-museum|access-date=2023-04-04|website=gov.uk|language=en}}</ref> The Princess of Wales is a patron of the museum.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.today.com/news/duchess-kate-become-patron-three-new-charities-6C9539365|title=Duchess Kate to become patron of three new charities|first1=Lily |last1=Harrison |first2=Lindsey |last2=Caldwell|work=Today News|date=22 April 2013}}</ref> There are approximately 850 staff at the museum. The two largest strategic groups are the Public Engagement Group and Science Group.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nhm.ac.uk/about-us/museum-information/index.html|title=Our vision|work=nhm.ac.uk}}</ref>

==History==

===Early history===
[[File:Natural History Museum 1881.JPG|thumb|right|An 1881 plan showing the original arrangement of the museum.<br />([http://www.nhm.ac.uk/content/dam/nhmwww/visit/map/natural-history-museum-map.pdf Link to current floor plans]).]]

The foundation of the collection was that of the Ulster doctor Sir Hans Sloane (1660–1753), who allowed his significant collections to be purchased by the British Government at a price well below their market value at the time. This purchase was funded by a lottery. Sloane's collection, which included dried plants, and animal and human skeletons, was initially housed in Montagu House, Bloomsbury, in 1756, which was the home of the British Museum.

Most of the Sloane collection had disappeared by the early decades of the nineteenth century. Dr George Shaw (Keeper of Natural History 1806–1813) sold many specimens to the Royal College of Surgeons and had periodic ''cremations'' of material in the grounds of the museum. His successors also applied to the trustees for permission to destroy decayed specimens.<ref name="leach">{{cite book|last1=Harrison|first1=Keith|last2=Smith|first2=Eric|title=Rifle-Green by Nature: A Regency Naturalist and his Family, William Elford Leach|date=2008|publisher=Ray Society|location=London|isbn=9780903874359|pages=265–266}}</ref> In 1833, the Annual Report states that, of the 5,500 insects listed in the Sloane catalogue, none remained. The inability of the natural history departments to conserve its specimens became notorious: the Treasury refused to entrust it with specimens collected at the government's expense. Appointments of staff were bedevilled by gentlemanly favouritism; in 1862 a nephew of the mistress of a Trustee was appointed Entomological Assistant despite not knowing the difference between a butterfly and a moth.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Gunther|first1=Albert E.|title=A Century of Zoology at the British Museum through the Lives of Two Keepers, 1815–1914|date=1975|publisher=Dawsons|location=London|isbn=9780712906180}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Gunther|first1=Albert E.|title=The Founders of Science at the British Museum, 1753–1900|date=1980|publisher=Halesworth Press|location=Halesworth, Suffolk|isbn=9780950727608}}</ref>{{verification needed|date=November 2014}}<!--Remarkable if true: embarrassing if hoax. Exact pages and quote(s) needed here.-->

J. E. Gray (Keeper of Zoology 1840–1874) complained of the incidence of mental illness amongst staff: George Shaw threatened to put his foot on any shell not in the [[Biology:12th edition of Systema Naturae|12th edition]] of [[Biography:Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]]' ''[[Biology:Systema Naturae|Systema Naturae]]''; another had removed [[Social:Museum label|all the labels]] and registration numbers from entomological cases arranged by a rival. The huge collection of the conchologist Hugh Cuming was acquired by the museum, and Gray's own wife had carried the open trays across the courtyard in a gale: all the labels blew away. That collection is said never to have recovered.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Barber|first1=Lynn|title=The Heyday of Natural History: 1829–1870|date=1980|publisher=Cape|location=London|isbn=9780224014489|chapter=Omnium Gatherum}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=November 2021}}

The Principal Librarian at the time was Antonio Panizzi; his contempt for the natural history departments and for science in general was total. The general public was not encouraged to visit the museum's natural history exhibits. In 1835 to a Select Committee of Parliament, Sir Henry Ellis said this policy was fully approved by the Principal Librarian and his senior colleagues.

Many of these faults were corrected by the palaeontologist Richard Owen, appointed Superintendent of the natural history departments of the British Museum in 1856. His changes led Bill Bryson to write that "by making the Natural History Museum an institution for everyone, Owen transformed our expectations of what museums are for".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Bryson|first1=Bill|title=A Short History of Nearly Everything|date=2003|publisher=Doubleday|location=London|isbn=9780385408189|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yRuICgAAQBAJ&pg=PT88}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=November 2021}}

===Planning and architecture of new building===
[[File:Natural History Museum London Jan 2006.jpg|thumb|left|300px|The Natural History Museum, shown in wide-angle view here, has an ornate [[Chemistry:Terracotta|terracotta]] facade by Gibbs and Canning typical of high Victorian architecture. The terracotta mouldings represent the past and present diversity of nature.]]
Owen saw that the natural history departments needed more space, and that implied a separate building as the British Museum site was limited. Land in South Kensington was purchased, and in 1864 a competition was held to design the new museum. The winning entry was submitted by the civil engineer Captain Francis Fowke, who died shortly afterwards. The scheme was taken over by Alfred Waterhouse who substantially revised the agreed plans, and designed the façades in his own idiosyncratic Romanesque style which was inspired by his frequent visits to the Continent.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.architecture.com/LibraryDrawingsAndPhotographs/Albertopolis/TheStoryOf/NaturalHistoryMuseum/Interior.aspx| title=Interior of the NHM| publisher=Royal Institute of British Architects| access-date=14 December 2010| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119053417/http://www.architecture.com/LibraryDrawingsAndPhotographs/Albertopolis/TheStoryOf/NaturalHistoryMuseum/Interior.aspx| archive-date=19 January 2012| df=dmy-all}}</ref> The original plans included wings on either side of the main building, but these plans were soon abandoned for budgetary reasons. The space these would have occupied are now taken by the Earth Galleries and Darwin Centre.[[File:The Comic News 1863.jpg|thumb|The ''Comic News'' reporting on the movement to South Kensington in 1863]]Work began in 1873 and was completed in 1880. The new museum opened in 1881, although the move from the old museum was not fully completed until 1883.

Both the interiors and exteriors of the Waterhouse building make extensive use of architectural terracotta tiles to resist the sooty atmosphere of [[History:Victorian era|Victorian]] London, manufactured by the Tamworth-based company of Gibbs and Canning. The tiles and bricks feature many relief sculptures of flora and fauna, with living and extinct species featured within the west and east wings respectively. This explicit separation was at the request of Owen, and has been seen as a statement of his contemporary rebuttal of [[Biography:Charles Darwin|Darwin's]] attempt to link present species with past through the theory of [[Biology:Natural selection|natural selection]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/history-architecture/architecture-tour/design/decoration/index.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608182831/http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/history-architecture/architecture-tour/design/decoration/index.html|title=Decoration|archive-date=8 June 2011|work=nhm.ac.uk}}</ref> Though Waterhouse slipped in a few anomalies, such as bats amongst the extinct animals and a fossil ammonite with the living species. The sculptures were produced from clay models by a French sculptor based in London, M Dujardin, working to drawings prepared by the architect.<ref>{{cite book |title=Nature's Cathedral |date=2021 |publisher=Natural History Museum |location=London |isbn=9780565094836 |page=19}}</ref>

The central axis of the museum is aligned with the tower of [[Organization:Imperial College London|Imperial College London]] (formerly the Imperial Institute) and the Royal Albert Hall and Albert Memorial further north. These all form part of the complex known colloquially as Albertopolis.

===Separation from the British Museum===
[[File:Natural History Museum - London.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The central hall of the museum]]

Even after the opening, the Natural History Museum legally remained a department of the British Museum with the formal name '''British Museum (Natural History)''', usually abbreviated in the [[Scientific literature|scientific literature]] as ''B.M.(N.H.)''. A petition to the Chancellor of the Exchequer was made in 1866, signed by the heads of the Royal, Linnean and [[Organization:Zoological Society of London|Zoological]] societies as well as naturalists including [[Biography:Charles Darwin|Darwin]], [[Biography:Alfred Russel Wallace|Wallace]] and [[Biography:Thomas Henry Huxley|Huxley]], asking that the museum gain independence from the board of the British Museum, and heated discussions on the matter continued for nearly one hundred years. Finally, with the passing of the British Museum Act 1963, the British Museum (Natural History) became an independent museum with its own board of trustees, although – despite a proposed amendment to the act in the House of Lords – the former name was retained. In 1989 the museum publicly re-branded itself as the Natural History Museum and stopped using the title British Museum (Natural History) on its advertising and its books for general readers. Only with the Museums and Galleries Act 1992 did the museum's formal title finally change to the '''Natural History Museum'''.

===Geological Museum===
In 1985, the museum merged with the adjacent Geological Museum of the British Geological Survey,<ref>{{cite journal |title=Written Answer: Geological and British Museums HC Deb 31 July 1984 |journal=Hansard |date=1984 |volume=65 |page=c185W |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1984/jul/31/geological-and-british-museums}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Hackett |first1=Dennis |title=Our corporate history. Key events affecting the British Geological Survey, 1967–1998 |date=1999 |publisher=British Geological Survey |edition=Technical Report, WQ/99/1 |url=http://earthwise.bgs.ac.uk/index.php/Our_corporate_history._Key_events_affecting_the_British_Geological_Survey_1967%E2%80%931998_(report)}}</ref> which had long competed for the limited space available in the area. The Geological Museum became world-famous for exhibitions including an active volcano model and an earthquake machine (designed by James Gardner), and housed the world's first computer-enhanced exhibition (''Treasures of the Earth''). The museum's galleries were completely rebuilt and relaunched in 1996 as ''The Earth Galleries'', with the other exhibitions in the Waterhouse building retitled ''The Life Galleries''. The Natural History Museum's own mineralogy displays remain largely unchanged as an example of the 19th-century display techniques of the Waterhouse building.

The central atrium design by Neal Potter overcame visitors' reluctance to visit the upper galleries by "pulling" them through a model of the Earth made up of random plates on an escalator. The new design covered the walls in recycled slate and sandblasted the major stars and planets onto the wall. The museum's 'star' geological exhibits are displayed within the walls. Six iconic figures were the backdrop to discussing how previous generations have viewed Earth. These were later removed to make place for a ''[[Biology:Stegosaurus|Stegosaurus]]'' skeleton that was put on display in late 2015.

===The Darwin Centre===
[[File:Charles Darwin statue.jpg|thumb|upright|Statue of Charles Darwin by Sir Joseph Boehm, 1885, in the main hall]]

The Darwin Centre (named after [[Biography:Charles Darwin|Charles Darwin]]) was designed as a new home for the museum's collection of tens of millions of preserved specimens, as well as new work spaces for the museum's scientific staff and new educational visitor experiences. Built in two distinct phases, with two new buildings adjacent to the main Waterhouse building, it is the most significant new development project in the museum's history.

Phase one of the Darwin Centre opened to the public in 2002, and it houses the zoological department's 'spirit collections'—organisms preserved in [[Chemistry:Ethanol|alcohol]]. Phase Two was unveiled in September 2008 and opened to the general public in September 2009. It was designed by the Danish architecture practice C. F. Møller Architects in the shape of a giant, eight-story cocoon and houses the [[Biology:Entomology|entomology]] and botanical collections—the 'dry collections'.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7594295.stm|title=Museum 'cocoon' prepares to open |work=BBC News|access-date=20 January 2009|date=2 September 2008}}</ref> It is possible for members of the public to visit and view non-exhibited items for a fee by booking onto one of the several Spirit Collection Tours offered daily.<ref name="nhm.ac.uk">{{Cite web|url=http://www.nhm.ac.uk/events/behind-the-scenes-tour-the-spirit-collection.html|title=Behind-the-Scenes Tour: Spirit Collection {{!}} Natural History Museum|website=www.nhm.ac.uk|language=en|access-date=2017-10-20}}</ref>

Arguably the most famous creature in the centre is the 8.62-metre-long [[Biology:Giant squid|giant squid]], affectionately named Archie.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nhm.ac.uk/about-us/news/2006/feb/news_5255.html|title=Giant squid goes on display|work=nhm.ac.uk|access-date=14 March 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060420195441/http://www.nhm.ac.uk/about-us/news/2006/feb/news_5255.html|archive-date=20 April 2006|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

===The Attenborough Studio===
As part of the museum's remit to communicate science education and conservation work, a new multimedia studio forms an important part of Darwin Centre Phase 2. In collaboration with the BBC's Natural History Unit (holder of the largest archive of natural history footage) the Attenborough Studio—named after the broadcaster Sir [[Biography:David Attenborough|David Attenborough]]—provides a multimedia environment for educational events. The studio holds regular lectures and demonstrations, including free [http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit/exhibitions/nature-live.html Nature Live] talks on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

{{anchor|Dippy}}
== Major specimens and exhibits ==<!-- This section is linked from [[Biology:Blue whale|Blue whale]] -->
[[File:Diplodocus (replica).001 - London.JPG|thumb|Dippy in the Hintze Hall at the Natural History Museum in 2008|alt=]]
One of the most famous and certainly most prominent of the exhibits—nicknamed "Dippy"—is a {{convert|105|ft|m|adj=on}}-long replica of a ''[[Biology:Diplodocus|Diplodocus carnegii]]'' skeleton which was on display for many years within the central hall. The cast was given as a gift by the Scottish-American industrialist Andrew Carnegie, after a discussion with King Edward VII, then a keen trustee of the British Museum. Carnegie paid £2,000 ({{Inflation|UK|2000|1904|fmt=eq|cursign=£}}) for the casting, copying the original held at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. The pieces were sent to London in 36 crates, and on 12 May 1905, the exhibit was unveiled to great public and media interest. The real fossil had yet to be mounted, as the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh was still being constructed to house it. As word of Dippy spread, Mr Carnegie paid to have additional copies made for display in most major European capitals and in Central and South America, making Dippy the most-viewed dinosaur skeleton in the world. The dinosaur quickly became an iconic representation of the museum, and has featured in many cartoons and other media, including the 1975 Disney comedy ''One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing''.  After 112 years on display at the museum, the dinosaur replica was removed in early 2017 to be replaced by the actual skeleton of a young [[Biology:Blue whale|blue whale]], a 128-year-old skeleton nicknamed "Hope".<ref>{{cite news |title=Coldplay prove they're not fossils as they play Natural History Museum gig |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-50556916 |access-date=26 November 2019 |agency=BBC}}</ref> Dippy went on a tour of various British museums starting in 2018 and concluding in 2020 at Norwich Cathedral.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/jan/01/dippy-diplodocus-london-tour-replica-dinosaur-whale-natural-history-museum |title=Dippy's last days: diplodocus leaves London after 112 years for farewell UK tour |first=Tracy |last=McVeigh |work=The Observer |date= 1 January 2017}}</ref><ref name="telegraph 2017">{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/01/04/dippy-diplodocus-bids-farewell-public-natural-history-museum/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/01/04/dippy-diplodocus-bids-farewell-public-natural-history-museum/ |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Dippy the Diplodocus bids farewell to his public at the Natural History Museum |first=George|last= Fuller|date=4 January 2017 |work=The Daily Telegraph }}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nhm.ac.uk/take-part/dippy-on-tour.html |title=Dippy on Tour: A Natural History Adventure|work=Natural History Museum}}</ref>

[[File:NHM Whale.jpg|thumb|left|Whale skeleton, nicknamed Hope, in the Hintze Hall]]
The blue whale skeleton, Hope, that has replaced Dippy, is another prominent display in the museum. The display of the skeleton, some {{convert|82|feet|m}} long and weighing 4.5 tonnes, was only made possible in 1934 with the building of the '''New Whale Hall''' (now the '''Mammals (blue whale model) gallery'''). The whale had been in storage for 42 years since its stranding on sandbanks at the mouth of Wexford Harbour, Ireland in March 1891 after being injured by whalers.<ref name="telegraph 2017"/> At this time, it was first displayed in the Mammals (blue whale model) gallery, but now takes pride of place in the museum's Hintze Hall. Discussion of the idea of a life-sized model also began around 1934, and work was undertaken within the Whale Hall itself. Since taking a cast of such a large animal was deemed prohibitively expensive, scale models were used to meticulously piece the structure together. During construction, workmen left a trapdoor within the whale's stomach, which they would use for surreptitious cigarette breaks. Before the door was closed and sealed forever, some coins and a telephone directory were placed inside—this soon growing to an urban myth that a [[Astronomy:Time capsule|time capsule]] was left inside. The work was completed—entirely within the hall and in view of the public—in 1938. At the time it was the largest such model in the world, at {{convert|92|feet|m}} in length. The construction details were later borrowed by several American museums, who scaled the plans further. The work involved in removing Dippy and replacing it with Hope was documented in a BBC Television special, ''Horizon: Dippy and the Whale'', narrated by [[Biography:David Attenborough|David Attenborough]], which was first broadcast on BBC Two on 13 July 2017, the day before Hope was unveiled for public display.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://docuwiki.net/index.php?title=Dippy_and_the_Whale|title=Dippy and the Whale|publisher=DocuWiki|date=15 July 2017}}</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=November 2021|reason=Wikis aren’t reliable sources in general.}}

The Darwin Centre is host to Archie, an 8.62-metre-long [[Biology:Giant squid|giant squid]] taken alive in a fishing net near the Falkland Islands in 2004. The squid is not on general display, but stored in the large tank room in the basement of the Phase 1 building. It is possible for members of the public to visit and view non-exhibited items behind the scenes for a fee by booking onto one of the several Spirit Collection Tours offered daily.<ref name="nhm.ac.uk"/> On arrival at the museum, the specimen was immediately frozen while preparations commenced for its permanent storage. Since few complete and reasonably fresh examples of the species exist, "wet storage" was chosen, leaving the squid undissected. A 9.45-metre acrylic tank was constructed (by the same team that provide tanks to Damien Hirst), and the body preserved using a mixture of formalin and saline solution.

The museum holds the remains and bones of the "River Thames whale", a northern bottlenose whale that lost its way on 20 January 2006 and swam into the Thames. Although primarily used for research purposes, and held at the museum's storage site at Wandsworth.

Dinocochlea, one of the longer-standing mysteries of paleontology (originally thought to be a giant [[Biology:Gastropod shell|gastropod shell]], then a coprolite, and now a [[Earth:Concretion|concretion]] of a worm's tunnel), has been part of the collection since its discovery in 1921.

The museum keeps a wildlife garden on its west lawn, on which a potentially new species of insect resembling [[Biology:Arocatus roeselii|Arocatus roeselii]] was discovered in 2007.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.sky.com/story/618991/mystery-insect-bugs-experts|title=Mystery Insect Bugs Experts|publisher=Sky news|date=15 July 2008}}</ref>

==Galleries==
 <!-- Please attempt to make an informative section on the galleries listed below -->
The museum is divided into four sets of galleries, or zones, each colour coded to follow a broad theme.

===Red Zone===
[[File:Entrance to the Earth Galleries of the Natural History Museum (London, 2002-06-07).jpg|thumb|The entrance to the Earth Galleries, designed by Neal Potter|alt=]]
This is the zone that can be entered from Exhibition Road, on the East side of the building. It is a gallery themed around the changing history of the Earth.

''Earth's Treasury'' shows specimens of rocks, minerals and gemstones behind glass in a dimly lit gallery. ''Lasting Impressions'' is a small gallery containing specimens of rocks, plants and minerals, of which most can be touched.
* Earth Hall (''[[Biology:Stegosaurus|Stegosaurus]]'' skeleton)
* Human Evolution
* Earth's Treasury
* Lasting Impressions
* Restless Surface
* From the Beginning
* Volcanoes and Earthquakes
* The Waterhouse Gallery (temporary exhibition space)

===Green zone===
[[File:Dodo, Natural History Museum, London 2.JPG|thumb|Dodo]]
This zone is accessed from the Cromwell Road entrance via the Hintze Hall and follows the theme of the evolution of the planet.
* Birds
* Creepy Crawlies
* Fossil Marine Reptiles
* Hintze Hall (formerly the Central Hall, with [[Biology:Blue whale|blue whale]] skeleton and [[Biology:Sequoiadendron giganteum|giant sequoia]])
* Minerals
* The Vault
* Fossils from Britain
* Anning Rooms (exclusive space for members and patrons of the museum)
* Investigate
* East Pavilion (space for changing Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition)

===Blue zone===
[[File:Large Mammal Room.jpg|thumb|upright|Large Mammals Hall]]
To the left of the Hintze Hall, this zone explores the diversity of life on the planet.
* [[Biology:Dinosaur|Dinosaur]]s
* Fish, Amphibians and Reptiles
* Human Biology
* Images of Nature
* The Jerwood Gallery (temporary exhibition space)
* Marine Invertebrates
* Mammals
* Mammals Hall ([[Biology:Blue whale|blue whale]] model)
* Treasures in the Cadogan Gallery

===Orange zone===
[[File:Spirit Collection Tour, National History Museum 05.jpg|thumb|Part of the spirit collection]]
Enables the public to see science at work and also provides spaces for relaxation and contemplation. Accessible from Queens Gate.
* Wildlife Garden
* Darwin Centre
* Zoology Spirit Building

==Highlights of the collection==
* Otumpa [[Astronomy:Iron meteorite|iron meteorite]] weighing {{cvt|635|kg}}, found in 1783 in Campo del Cielo, Argentina
* [[Chemistry:Latrobe nugget|Latrobe nugget]], one of the largest known clusters of cubic gold crystals
* [[Engineering:Apollo 16|Apollo 16]] Moon rock sample collected in 1972
* Ostro Stone,  flawless blue [[Chemistry:Topaz|topaz]] gemstone weighing 9,381 [[Carat (mass)|carats]], about {{cvt|2|kg}}, the largest of its kind in the world
* Aurora Pyramid of Hope, a collection of 296 natural diamonds in a wide variety of colours
* First [[Biology:Iguanodon|Iguanodon]] teeth ever discovered
* Dippy, plaster cast replica of the fossilised bones of a Diplodocus carnegii skeleton
* [[Biology:Mantellisaurus|Mantellisaurus]] and American mastodon skeletons
* Full-sized animatronic model of a [[Biology:Tyrannosaurus rex|Tyrannosaurus rex]]
* The most intact [[Biology:Stegosaurus|Stegosaurus]] fossil skeleton ever discovered (nicknamed Sophie)
* Large skull of a [[Biology:Triceratops|Triceratops]]
* First specimen of [[Biology:Archaeopteryx|Archaeopteryx]] ever discovered, one of only 12 found and generally accepted by palaeontologists to be the oldest known bird
* Rare [[Biology:Dodo|dodo]] skeleton, reconstructed from bones over 1,000 years old
* Only surviving specimen of the Great Auk from the British Isles, collected in 1813 from Papa Westray in the Orkney Islands
* Broken Hill skull, [[Earth:Middle Paleolithic|Middle Paleolithic]] cranium now considered part of  a [[Biology:Homo heidelbergensis|Homo heidelbergensis]], discovered in the mine of Broken Hill or [[Place:Kabwe|Kabwe]] in Zambia
* [[Biology:Gibraltar 1|Gibraltar 1]] and [[Biology:Gibraltar 2|Gibraltar 2]], two [[Biology:Neanderthal|Neanderthal]] skulls found at [[Earth:Forbes' Quarry|Forbes' Quarry]] in [[Place:Gibraltar|Gibraltar]]
* Cross-section of 1,300-year-old giant sequoia, at the museum since 1893
* Rare copy of ''The Birds of America'' by John James Audubon, containing illustrations of a wide variety of birds from the United States
* Rare first edition of [[Biography:Charles Darwin|Charles Darwin]]'s ''On the Origin of Species''

==Education and research==
[[File:NaturalHistoryMuseumLondon.jpg|thumb|upright|A young student at the museum]]
The museum runs a series of [[Social:Museum education|educational]] and public engagement programmes. These include for example a highly praised "How Science Works" hands on workshop for school students demonstrating the use of microfossils in geological research. The museum also played a major role in securing designation of the Jurassic Coast of [[Earth:Devon|Devon]] and Dorset as a [[Organization:UNESCO|UNESCO]] World Heritage Site and has subsequently been a lead partner in the Lyme Regis Fossil Festivals.

In 2005, the museum launched a project to develop notable gallery characters to patrol display cases, including 'facsimiles' of [[Biography:Carl Linnaeus|Carl Linnaeus]], Mary Anning, Dorothea Bate and William Smith. They tell stories and anecdotes of their lives and discoveries and aim to surprise visitors.<ref>[http://www.ucl.ac.uk/prehistoric/reviews/05_11_shindler.htm Review by Miles Russell] of ''Discovering Dorothea: the Life of the Pioneering Fossil-Hunter Dorothea Bate'' by Karolyn Shindler at ucl.ac.uk (accessed 23 November 2007)</ref>

In 2010, a six-part BBC documentary series was filmed at the museum entitled ''Museum of Life'' exploring the history and behind the scenes aspects of the museum.<ref name="Museum of Life">{{cite web | url=http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/museum-of-life/episode-six/index.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100830090305/http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/museum-of-life/index.html | archive-date=30 August 2010 | title=Museum of Life | access-date=5 January 2011 | year=2010 | publisher=The Natural History Museum}}</ref>

Since May 2001, the Natural History Museum admission has been free for some events and permanent exhibitions. However, there are certain temporary exhibits and shows that require a fee.

<!--This is not a balanced 'summary style' report of the research at the museum, but (WP:UNDUE, maybe WP:RECENT) emphasises just one project as if selling it. This isn't what we should be doing here.-->The Natural History museum combines the museum's life and earth science collections with specialist expertise in "taxonomy, systematics, biodiversity, natural resources, planetary science, evolution and informatics" to tackle scientific questions.<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/|title=Research and curation|publisher=Museum of Natural History|date=n.d.|access-date=22 December 2013}}</ref>
In 2011, the museum led the setting up of an [[Organization:International Union for Conservation of Nature|International Union for Conservation of Nature]] Bumblebee Specialist Group, chaired by Dr. Paul H. Williams,<ref name=NHM_BSG>{{citation|url=http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/life-sciences/terrestrial-invertebrates/research/hymenoptera-research/bumble-bee-research/bumblebee-specialist-group/index.html|title=Bumblebee Specialist Group|access-date=23 December 2013|publisher=Natural History Museum|location=London, UK}}</ref> to assess the threat status of [[Biology:Bumblebee|bumblebee]] species worldwide using Red List criteria.<ref>{{citation|url=http://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/bumblebee_sg_proofed.pdf|title=2011 Update|publisher=IUCN|access-date=7 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121203034020/http://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/bumblebee_sg_proofed.pdf|archive-date=3 December 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/projects/bombus/decline.html |author=Paul H. Williams |year=1986 |title=Environmental change and the distributions of British bumble bees (''Bombus'' Latr.) |journal=Bee World |volume=67|issue=2 |pages=50–61 |doi=10.1080/0005772x.1986.11098871}}</ref>

==Access==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Service !! Station/Stop !! Lines/Routes served
|-
| rowspan="2" | London Buses {{rail-interchange|london|bus}}
| Kensington Museums {{access icon}}
| 360
|-
| Victoria & Albert Museum {{access icon}} || 14, 74, 414, C1
|-
| London Underground {{Rail-interchange|london|underground}}||South Kensington|| [[File:Circle line flag box.svg|100px|link=w:Circle line (London Underground)|alt=Circle line]]<br />100px|link=w:District line|alt=District line<br />[[File:Piccadilly line flag box.svg|100px|link=w:Piccadilly line|alt=Piccadilly line]]
|}

The closest London Underground station is South Kensington — there is a tunnel from the station that emerges close to the entrances of all three museums. Admission is free, though there are donation boxes in the foyer.

Museum Lane immediately to the north provides disabled access to the museum.<ref>[http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/access-guide/museum-entrances/index.html Museum entrances], Natural History Museum.</ref>

A connecting bridge between the Natural History and Science museums closed to the public in the late 1990s.

==In popular culture==

The museum plays an important role in the 1975 London-based Disney live-action feature ''One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing''; the eponymous skeleton is stolen from the museum, and a group of intrepid nannies hide inside the mouth of the museum's blue whale model (in fact a specially created prop – the nannies peer out from behind the whale's teeth, but a blue whale is a [[Biology:Baleen whale|baleen whale]] and has no teeth). Additionally, the film is set in the 1920s, before the blue whale model was built.<ref name="film">{{cite web|url=https://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit/museum-on-screen-movies-tv.html|title=The Museum at the movies: 13 chances to see us on screen|work=Natural History Museum|access-date=December 8, 2021}}</ref>

The museum features as a base for Prodigium, a secret society which studies and fights monsters, first appearing on ''{{sortname|The|Mummy|The Mummy (2017 film)}}''.<ref name="film"/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/make-it-stop-mummy-tom-cruise-movie-a-lumbering-waste-of-time-1.3109606|title=Make it stop, Mummy! Tom Cruise movie a lumbering waste of time|newspaper=The Irish Times|last=Clarke|first=Donald|access-date=December 8, 2021}}</ref>

In the 2014 film ''Paddington'', Millicent Clyde is a devious and trecherous taxidermist at the museum. She kidnaps Paddington, intending to kill and stuff him, but is thwarted by the Brown family after scenes involving chases inside and on the roof of the building.<ref name="film"/><ref>{{cite news|last1=O'Connor|first1=Joanne|title=On location: Paddington|url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1747ca2a-7a29-11e4-8958-00144feabdc0.html|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210211250/https://www.ft.com/content/1747ca2a-7a29-11e4-8958-00144feabdc0|archive-date=10 December 2022|url-access=subscription|access-date=1 January 2015|work=Financial Times|date=5 December 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>

The museum features prominently in the level Lud's Gate from [[Software:Tomb Raider III|Tomb Raider III]], with [[Company:Core Design|Core Design]] launching the game with Jonathan Ross at the museum on 15 October 1998.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.virtuallara.com/tr3-events.html|title=Tomb Raider 3 Events|access-date=March 12, 2022}}</ref>

Andy Day's CBeebies shows, ''Andy's Dinosaur Adventures'' and ''Andy's Prehistoric Adventures'' are filmed in the Natural History Museum.<ref name="film"/>

The museum was site of the first Pit Stop on ''The Amazing Race 33''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tvline.com/2022/01/05/the-amazing-race-premiere-recap-season-33-episode-1-2-were-back/|title=The Amazing Race Season 33 Premiere Recap: Has Anyone Seen (a) Bobby? — Plus, Who Was Eliminated First?|work=TVLine|last=Caruso|first=Nick|date=January 5, 2022|access-date=January 5, 2022}}</ref>

==Natural History Museum at Tring==
The NHM also has an outpost in Tring, Hertfordshire, built by local eccentric Lionel Walter Rothschild. The NHM took ownership in 1938. In 2007, the museum announced that the name would be changed to the '''Natural History Museum at Tring''', though the older name, the Walter Rothschild Zoological Museum, is still in widespread use.

==See also==
* James John Joicey
* Keeper of Entomology, Natural History Museum
* [[Biology:Stegosaurus|Sophie the Stegosaurus]]

==References==
{{Reflist|33em}}

==Bibliography==
* ''Dr Martin Lister: A bibliography'' by Geoffrey Keynes. St Paul's Bibliographies (UK). {{ISBN|0-906795-04-4}}. (Includes illustrations by Lister's wife and daughter).
* ''The Travelling Naturalists'' (1985) by Clare Lloyd. (Study of 18th Century Natural History — includes Charles Waterton, John Hanning Speke, Henry Seebohm and Mary Kingsley). Contains colour and black and white reproductions. Croom Helm (UK). {{ISBN|0-7099-1658-2}}.
* ''Dry storeroom no 1: The Secret Life of the Natural History Museum'' (2009) by Richard Fortey. HarperPress (UK). {{ISBN|978-0307275523}}.

==External links==
{{Wikidata property|P3060}}
{{Commons|British Natural History Museum}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140424180521/http://piclib.nhm.ac.uk/ Picture Library of the Natural History Museum]
* [https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/beta/partner/natural-history-museum The Natural History Museum on Google Cultural Institute]
* [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=47527 Architectural history and description] from the ''Survey of London''
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120119022407/http://www.architecture.com/LibraryDrawingsAndPhotographs/Albertopolis/TheStoryOf/NaturalHistoryMuseum/NaturalHistoryMuseum.aspx Architecture and history of the NHM] from the Royal Institute of British Architects
* Maps of {{gbmapping|TQ267792}}
* [http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100611/full/news.2010.294.html Nature News article on proposed cuts, June 2010]


[[Category:Dinosaur museums]]

{{Sourceattribution|Natural History Museum, London|1}}