J.R. Johnson

The Canadian Museum of Nature is situated in Ottawa’s Victoria Memorial Museum Building, a giant stone edifice built over a hundred years ago. Its mosaic tile floors, carved wooden bannisters and stained glass windows provide a lovely backdrop for exhibits old and new. 

Can’t go in person? Here’s a brief video tour:

We started at the top, in a temporary exhibit on insects. Some icky, yes, but the longevity, creativity and adaptability of that class of creatures is fascinating. 

Next stop wolves, then the Arctic, then Earth, Mammals, Water, Birds and finally, Dinosaurs.

The fossils throughout were impressive. Giant whale? Check. A complete Daspletosaurus torosus (a cousin of T. rex) skeleton? Check! 

A bit of fun from a Museum palaeobiologist:

I also picked up a box of Canadian rocks to remember the beauty and complexity of the geology beneath our feet.

And in the floor of the Fossil Gallery, an embedded spiral* shows the extent of geological history as we know it, complete with a tiny section at the end for the Cenozoic era, age of mammals, with an even smaller epoch at the end featuring the rise of humanity.

* I should have taken a picture of this but did not, and can’t find a picture of it online. Here’s a different version to give you an idea. 

This is why I love history in general, and museums in particular. On the one hand, a long-term perspective is very good at making one feel small, but on the other hand, there is real joy in knowing that you are a part of something so very big.

The experience was both humbling and delightful.

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