The Natural History Museum is on many a person's bucket-list to visit.

Now THIS is what I call a museum entrance!

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After all, it's arguably the best place in England to view dinosaurs and few people have managed to avoid adopting a childhood fascination with the massive reptiles that carried on into adulthood. So, being a fellow dinosaur-enthusiast, I could hardly walk past it when I spent a few days in London.

I'm happy to report that the museum was well worth the visit. As we went mid week in the morning, the crowds were very manageable: when they did turn up it was mostly school groups of primary school children, so we could easily peek over their heads - win! As with all the London museums that we visited, we expected to be in and out in a couple of hours, but it sucked out the best part of the day. While our feet were complaining our brains were humming, and there's a surprising amount on display for any curious traveller to explore...

Pachycephalosaurus gives new meaning to the phrase  'thick-headed'

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'THE' Dinosaur and the Amazing Building

When you step into the Natural History museum the first thing you notice isn't Dippy the Diplodocus in the centre, but the building itself. With it's striped stone, intricate nature-themed carvings and the cathedral-like height and use of light, I found myself gawping up at it all, completely stunned. It is - in a word - beautiful and is a perfect setting for the more traditional collections that you find inside. It feels eminently victorian, which sits well with the marble statue of Darwin who (currently) sits front and centre, welcoming you into the place. But, of course, the real celebrity is Dippy and it doesn't disappoint. Smaller than the Brontosaurus images you often have in mind, it is nevertheless both imposing and graceful, stretching out its head above the crowds almost close enough to touch. You start to get a real sense of the scale of dinosaurs, though if you wander to the sides and peek at the other isolated displays - such as a vast mammoth skull - Dippy seems quite modest in comparison.

"We're just a pair of charming fluffy cuties. Pay no attention to the teeth."

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Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs!

Naturally, with Dippy at the helm, the most popular exhibit was going to be the dinosaurs. It's arranged in a long snaking moody corridor (a little like a queue at Alton Towers) and holds an impressive number of life-sized casts of famous dinosaur fossils as well as a couple of originals. It's well supported by displays that talk about dinosaur evolution, breeding practices, combat, behaviour and more. Being the most popular exhibit, you have to be prepared to be patient and walk at a shuffling pace, but there is plenty to look at and plenty of places to step away from the flow and take a bit of time. The iguanodon is especially impressive in its sheer size, as well as the hefty triceratops, T-Rex and the Ankylosaurus partially encased in rock. There were also fun animatronics on display, such as a T-rex and a pair of feathered raptors. If anything, it's as if they are swimming in the things, with some dinosaur skeletons even hanging from the ceiling. It certainly gives you plenty to look at.

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Further proof that babies are eldritch horrors.

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The Terror-Fetus Teaches Us About Human Development

With the dinosaurs under your belt you might be forgiven for thinking that most of the museum is over, but it's only the beginning! Drift around and soon you will come to the exhibition on human development. Here the museum very much shows it's age: while it's a great interactive experience especially for children, the exhibits themselves are very long in the tooth. The displays often feature videos with narration and an abundance of dubious fashion and haircuts that marks them as being filmed somewhere around the 80s at best. Even the accents seem dated. It's a little disappointing for such a prestigious museum, but there's still plenty to be learned and the section about the brain development of babies and small children is especially intriguing. Also, being the liberal that I am, I really appreciated the frankness and openness of the sex education on offer, including anatomically correct nude sculptures and illustrations. With this exhibit (and the museum in general) being so focused on children, it was heartening to see that science trumped prudishness in this case.

On a less serious note, this exhibition features a massive horrifying model of a fetus that is nestled in a cave-like section, so if you're a fan of the bizarre you should give it a peek.

You need to get yourself to the whale room. It's immense.

So. Much. Taxidermy.

Any museum about natural history worth its salt has a well stocked taxidermy section. As a kid it was what I loved most about our local museum, because it allowed me to see so many beautiful animals up close. So it's no surprise that The Natural History Museum has these long-dead creatures in spades all throughout the museum. One long corridor is dedicated to  walls of floor-to-ceiling fossils of ancient sea creatures. Another corridor holds cabinets of eggs, displays of various wings and feet, and even a case full of hundreds of species of beautiful humming birds. Mammals, reptiles, insects - you name it and you can see them here in the museum and they will suck hours of your time into studying them all. Perhaps the most impressive room is the 'whale room' which displays the evolution of horses, deer, elephants and more, all with examples of modern and ancient animals in full scale. Hanging above you and in the centre of the room is the marine life, showing the sheer vastness of whales and their marvellous anatomy. Climb up onto a balcony and you can learn about them as well as dolphins, manatees and narwhals. It's enough to take your breath away.

A timeline of our ancestors

A Hidden Gem of Human Evolution

Carry on through the museum and you may start to flag. You may wonder whether you're anywhere near the end. Fool! There is still plenty to see!

Towards the 'back' of the museum you come to the section on human evolution. For me it was a complete surprise, so to stumble across a wall of human skulls really caught me offgaurd and packed an emotional punch. They were beautiful to see, with our oldest ancestors at the bottom and homo sapiens  at the top. Follow the entrance through and it took you to a relatively modest exhibit in size that was packed with quality content for anyone who is fascinated by 'cavemen'. There were even more skulls, and plaster casts and two stunning models of a Neanderthal and modern human. Again there was no shyness in nudity for these models, which made them all the more striking, and the ability to stare each one in the face was quite magical. They were intelligent, perhaps a little standoffish, perhaps a little dangerous. Serious kudos to the sculptors for these.
A surprise find inside was also 'the hobbit' skeleton - a tiny and fascinating human species found in a cave some years ago - in complete form, stood up to their full (diminutive) height. For me, this exhibition was a gem.

"GAZE UPON ME AND HEED MY WARNING, FOOLISH MORTALS!"

Take the Escalator to the Terror-Dome and See How Our Planet Tries to Kill Us

Apparently glowing, womb-like caverns of terror are a theme around here.
Next to the human evolution section was the surprise of a stunning glowing orb with an escalator attached going, apparently, nowhere. Take the escalator up and you move through a gorgeous sculpture of magma and tectonic plates to emerge a floor higher to a massive exhibit all about our planet's geology. Personally, we were flagging at this point and geology isn't a personal interest of mine, so we moved through it quite quickly, but it was a quality exhibition with plenty of interactive displays about various rocks, minerals and sediments. There were plenty of examples that you were allowed to touch, including a pillar from the giant's causeway. The most interesting section for me was the one on earthquakes and how shifting tectonic plates cause them. They even had a display set up as a life-sized japanese grocery shop. Step onto it and it showed a video of a strong earthquake in action in the real-life version of the store, while the floor beneath you shifted and jerked around to simulate a real earthquake, clattering and shaking all the items around you. While I've no doubt that it was toned down a little so that it didn't actually injure anyone, it was still a striking simulation that helped you get in the mindset of the people affected by the catastrophe and to appreciate the raw power of the earth beneath our feet.

But Wait, There More...

 By the time we left the earth section we were well and truly knackered and perilously close to being late for our train home if we didn't get our timings for the return journey right. But if we had stayed on and been prepared to spend more money there were even more exhibitions that we could have explored. When we visited there were a couple of exhibits closed for renovation, but the paid exhibit on colours in nature looked impressive for anyone interested. Also we left the Darwin Centre largely untouched, where real science is being conducted every day. To get a sense of what's on if you want to make a trip to the museum, make sure to check their website.

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So What's the Final Verdict?

In conclusion, the Natural History Museum is a brilliant collection of Mother Nature's best work, curated throughout the years by keen scientists who are in awe of her. It's far more than just a dinosaur museum and, should you visit, you need to make sure you give yourself all day to get around the place. If you do, you won't regret it.

Dont' worry. There's a cafe ;)

It's not exactly a secret that quantum physics is complicated.


It's the most pioneering form of science, pulling us into a strange world of infinitesimally small particles and realities that are so out of odds with our own usual perceptions that even Einstein himself struggled with the implications. Most famously, it is a realm where, in the thought experiment of 'Schrodinger's Cat', a creature in a sealed system can be considered to be simultaneously alive and dead until we, the observers, actually open up the box and take a peek. 

I'm no scientist. I did well in my GCSEs for chemistry,physics and biology, but I'm pretty convinced that this is testament for an odd talent in studying for exams and writing essays instead of any actual ability in scientific thinking. Besides, explaining even the basics of quantum theory here is rather beyond the scope of this humble little blog. So the real question is: does In Search of Schrodinger's Cat do a good job of explaining what quantum theory is to a layman?

In short: absolutely. I picked up In Search of Schrodinger's Cat on a whim when I spotted it in Oxfam, expecting that I would be hideously confused within mere pages and bored even sooner than that. Instead it hooked me and pulled me across the following pages and chapters with all the insatiable drive of a good novel. The book is crafted so that it takes the route of a history of quantum mechanics itself, starting with how we began to build up a picture of what the atom was. By starting at the beginning and walking historically through each question,debate and discovery as it happens, the book manages to keep things at layman's terms and gradually builds up the complexity of the science involved in layers, each firmly rooted in the context of what created each idea. If you eventually find yourself confused at the complexity of the mathematical equations or experiments that Gribbin recounts he soon pulls you back into the comprehensible with his talented use of practical similes and his own genuine excitement for the subject. (For example, he likens the different energy states in different atoms to different types of crowd behaviour in rock concerts). For me, this allowed me to see the steady buildup of complexity and to marvel at the creative intelligence of the talented scientists involved, while still feeling like I had a working knowledge of what quantum theory means and how it is used, even if the more delicate nuts and bolts of theoretical physics escaped me.

And marvel I did. Quantum theory gets a bad rep due in large to it being widely represented in popular culture but not easily understood - it looks as if it's scientists fudging the maths because it looks like bloody magic. If we take the Schrodinger's cat example, how can something be both alive and dead? Why should human observation fundamentally change the universe? How can one particle millions of miles away 'know' when another one changes? What the heck is going on?
What Gribbin does with great talent is to explain all of these questions while not dismissing why people find this area so challenging. By taking you through quantum theory from the very beginning step by step, and by giving time to explore many of the arguments against many quantum theory explanations too, you are finally prepared to open your mind to the stranger aspects of that science with an informed background.When you finally perceive the true strangeness of reality as it really is, it's quite the eye opener.


It is worth noting that In Search of Schrodinger's Cat has it's limitations, namely due to it's age. The version I picked up had done the rounds: it was a 1998 version of the original 1984 print (and had seemingly done a repeated stint in the University of Queensland bookshop before finding its way to our English Oxfam). As a result, you have to acknowledge that in the last 18-32 years the field of quantum theory has moved far enough as to make some aspects of the science out of date. However the way that Gribbins hangs his book on a historical timeline, it still has great value. Nothing is missing and nothing is anachronistic, it's just that his timeline finishes with a lot of exciting questions in the 1980s, waiting for more answers. It would take a hard-hearted person not to be inspired by the closing pages.


In conclusion, In Search of Schrodinger'd Cat is an excellent book, and a must for anyone who is curious about science and would like an introduction into the weird world of quantum physics. What's more, it's even still in print with an updated version. Check it out ;)






Bonus fact:

One of the key modern figures of Quantum physics was a guy called 'Bryce DeWitt' who purported the 'many worlds' theory in direct challenge to the copenhagen theory of single-universe wave-function collapse. Is this where Booker DeWitt -the alternate reality jumping protagonist of Bioshock Infinite - got his name?
Awesome.




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Stay curious!

Today I want to try something a bit different and give you a walk through my non-fiction bookshelf.

I never realised how many non-fiction books I had accumulated over the years until I moved into my new flat and actually attempted to organise them on a bookshelf. So in this Vlog I take you through some of my favourites for learning about social history, psychology & philosophy and science.

This is my first attempt at a vlog and was filmed on my ipad, so apologies for the occasional dip in sound volume. But you do get to actually hear my voice so...bonus?

You can view the video above or click here to go directly to Youtube.

Have a good weekend, and keep curious ;)

Merry December!

'Tis the special season where we stuff ourselves with turkey and chocolate and attempt to relax while being perhaps the busiest that we are all year. Also, the blog will be 2 years old on December 14th!

To celebrate the holiday season I have conscripted in the help of another curious individual - TinyAstronaut - who will be popping up here and on my instagram account over December. 

Yes, TinyAstronaut is both small and plastic, but it's fitting given the tradition for playing with daft action figures this time of year. Plus, I do like to maintain on the blog that anyone  - even tiny inanimate objects - has the right to be curious.

So, what is TinyAstronaut taking a look at this week?

TinyAstronaut certainly enjoys full page
glossy photos of space.

Brian Cox and the Wonders of the Universe

Well, I will admit it, I'm rather a fangirl of Professor Brian Cox. Both the legends of David Attenborough and Patrick Moore have said that they would enthusiastically pass the torch to him as a main figure of the BBC's scientific programming and it's easy to see why. He blends a genuine curiosity and wonder with a detailed knowledge of physics (spawned from his education in high energy particle physics), and when this is supported by a hefty BBC budget that takes him all over the world a whole range of fascinating scientific ideas are able to spring to life. I'm no scientist, but it's framed in a way that is understandable without being too dumbed down. It's intricate but also fundamentally friendly.

If you're looking for christmas gifts for a curious friend or family member then the Wonders series on DVD (covering the solar system, the universe and nature) is a great places to start and will keep you entertained for hours. There was also a tie in book series that I have sitting cheerily on my shelf and is well worth checking out, especially if you're looking for something sophisticated to stick on your coffee table. 

Wonders of the Universe especially is a fascinating read and has plenty of gorgeous pictures to enoy. While of course based on the Tv series it nevertheless stands on its own two feet as a detailed yet approachable journey through the stars and astrophysics. It carried the same spirit of explaining complicated ideas like quantum theory, entropy, thermodynamics and more in enthusiastic and approachable languages, and mixed stunning photography alongside informative scientific graphs. You can't help but feel equal parts inspired and humbled by the sheer vastness of the universe that it describes.

I obviously love it. If you find you do then you can even see Prof. Cox live next year giving talks on all the same scientific goodness.

If you find you're not a fan? Well, you can enjoy this gif of him getting run over by Stephen Hawking.

I love York.

It's the ancient capital of the North and has always been a brilliant spot for a tourist who loves a bit of history. From the city walls to the Shambles to the minster, you can really breathe in the layers of age in this place, so it's of no surprise that the city's museums are also excellent. When I visited recently I decided to check out the biggest and most eclectic example: York Castle Museum.

The Clue's in the Name

York Castle Museum is a large Georgian style building that sits at the base of Clifford's Tower and has a significant amount of history of its own. It sits on the grounds of York castle, which was built as a timber structure by William the Conquerer in 1066 and included a prison. in 1244 it was converted to stone and was used until it fell into disrepair in the 1340s and recieved a further battering in 1644 during the civil war. By 1705 all but Clifford's tower was demolished of the old castle and in its place a new debter's prison had been built in its place. 1780 saw the expansion of a whole new women's prison alongside it and by 1835 it was modernised into a large 'model' prison with new buildings. Come 1929 the victorian 'model' prison was demolished, leaving the older buildings to be creatively used for the new museum.

So What's On Offer?

York Castle Museum is probably the biggest and most eclectic museum I've visited. (Though I've got my eye on you, British Museum. Soon, my precious, soon...) The museum itself is divided into two wings - the women's prison building and the debtor's prison building - but otherwise takes you on a relatively linear journey through several fascinating exhibits.

The Period Rooms

York castle museum has a brilliant attention to detail when it comes to the exhibits, and this is shown off to it's fullest in the period rooms. As you move through the exhibits you can peek inside full scale rooms set up from different time periods: the 1870s, rural 1850s (including the fascinating witch ball ornament), 1780s (including a dummy houseguest used to deter burglars), and the 1600s. Each section looks well lived in and has it's own curious features that are worth investigating.

Toy Stories

From the darker fussy period interiors you are suddenly pulled into a land of colour with the toy story exhibit which showcases toys from 150 years of history. It's a mixed bag: while there are some beautiful objects like the punch and judy dolls and 'Gilligan's Galloping' miniature carousel, the exhibit is bogged down in being cluttered with a mis-match of donated toys from the general public all dumped together in one place, which looks to be honest rather like a car boot sale. However, in here there is also another period room set up like a 1950s birthday party which is definitely worth a look for it's authenticity.

Gilligan's Galloping Carousel

From Cradle to Grave

As you move from the bright world of toys you head downstairs to a more traditional museum exhibit that shows the development of midwifery and of funeral culture. Here the mix between donated items and public testimony and more formal exhibits is more balanced and you get a real sense of the personal journeys of new mothers. Sat in the centre of the room is an imposing wax sculpture of a victorian funeral carriage alongside examples of the development of victorian mourning culture and all the curious layers of etiquette that came alongside it. Things brighten up again with a display on marriage and a series of wedding dresses through the ages. i was most interested by the 1940s example that stuck out like a sore thumb among the finer gowns, showing the humility and creativity needed from brides in the war years when rationing was at its height.

Part of the wedding display

The Hearth Gallery

Similar to the period rooms, this exhibit recreates a series of kitchens, showing how this centre of the home developed over the years with each new bit of technology. It's a perfect display for anyone looking for a bit of nostalgia, taking you through the 1940s and 1980s kitchens that so many of us will remember before guiding you through to older examples. look out for the absolutely massive taxidermy bull's head of 'Pat the Giant' in the farmhouse kitchen - he was a beast, weighting in at 254 stone back in his glory days.

One of the excellent storefronts of the Victorian Street

'Kirkgate' - The Victorian Street

This is easily one of the best museum exhibits in the country and is a really magical experience. Kirkgate was originally designed by the museum founder Dr.Kirk to perfectly replicate a real victorian street, filed with shop businesses that actually existed in York at some time or another. 
I came to York castle Museum as a very young kid and Kirkgate is the only vague memory i have of it: i remembered being completely blown away by the dark moodily lit streets, beautiful shop fronts and the fantastic real examples of horses and carriages that stood there. now as an adult revisiting the place it was everything I remembered and more. The street is surprisingly large with it's main street, back allies and several shops and homes that you can step inside and explore. It would honestly make even the most established movie set feel a little envious. The shop windows are authentic examples filled with original items and give you a real sense of the variety of items that were available for the casual victorian shopper, and these are supported by copies of real posters and adverts on the walls of the streets. What's more, there's a neat day-to-night transition that takes place, giving a real moodiness to the streets as darkness falls and a fresh optimism as day breaks. It's a brilliant experience that is a must for adults and kids.

A recreated apothecary

1914: When the World Changed Forever

Head across into the debtor's prison and you can enjoy a new exhibit that deals with the first world war. We've recently had the centenary of WW1 so you're no doubt familiar with the period of history, however for me it's always interesting to learn more about the 'less famous' world war: the one where there wasn't a simple good vs evil narrative and it was really just a load of allies clustering on top of one another because of a confused sense of political duty. The exhibit is as creative and varied as ever, with trenches recreated, train carriages set up, painted murals of the battlefield, as well as a whole series of interesting artifacts, such as the papier mache 'dummy head' that was used to draw fire in trench warfare. Towards the end of the exhibit things get a little naff with community project pieces, but that's my personal taste.

A Dummy Head to draw enemy fire

The Sixties

From the austerity of war you're booted into another street-eque exhibit that is set in the 1960s. the bright colours and classic icons are certainly engaging, but in my opinion it doesn't really tell you very much of substance about the 60s and seems more like a collection of common pop art that they've now got an excuse to sell you replicas of in the gift shop. but again, I've never been a fan so it's very much my opinion. the design of the exhibit itself is certainly pretty, though.

Sixties flower power

York Castle Prison

The final prison exhibit gives you a rather grim but interesting glimpse into the history of the museum itself, as you are taken down into the debtor's prison cells and the corrupt prison life of the 1700s is put on show. I like that it doesn't go full on York Dungeon on you and become an exploitative bit of tripe. Instead it speaks unflinchingly of life there while also catering to your natural curiosity. Interestingly Dick turpin himself was held at york prison in 1738 where is gaoler used to make £100 from selling liquor to Turpin's visitors while the famous highwayman entertained the crowds by recounting stories of his daring deeds. Elsewhere in the museum, the most interesting items for me were the preserved slabs of stone that held prisoner's graffiti from hundreds of years ago. there isn't a whole lot to look at down here in items, but you can really appreciate the architecture. In each cell there are projections of the usual am-dram actors recounting the stories of people who lived there. If you can get past the often iffy acting (let's be honest, it's a museum. the acting is always bad!) their stories are on the whole quite interesting.



So Should You Visit?

Definately! In my opinion York castle Museum is worth a visit for the fantastic Victorian street alone, but it also offers a very varied experience that's definitely worth checking out. Two thumbs up.