Page 92 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Chicago

90  CHIC A GO AREA B Y AREA

Exploring the Field Museum
With its encyclopedic collection of cultural objects and biological
specimens from around the globe, the Field Museum warrants
many trips. More than 40 permanent exhibitions are
supplemented with fascinating temporary shows. Particular
strengths of the museum are dinosaur fossils – highlighted by
the exhibit on Sue, the most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton
ever found – American Indian artifacts, botanical specimens,
and displays relating to mammals and birds. Major crowd
pleasers, especially for children, are Underground Adventure,
which explores the rich diversity of life in the soil, and Inside The monumental Neo-Classical entrance to
Ancient Egypt, focusing on that civilization’s funerary practices. the Field Museum

Rocks and Fossils
leaves in the diorama is cast
Animals, Plants, and separately from a real one. Two of the 12 Martian
Ecosystems
The main-level galleries in the meteorites on display in
One of the museum’s missions west wing provide an overview museums around the world
is to encourage prudent of animal biology, behavior, and are here at the Field Museum.
stewardship of our environment. habitats, with samples from the You can touch non-Martian
This theme is highlighted in the museum’s 17 million zoological meteorite pieces on the upper
animal, plant, and ecosystem specimens. Outstanding floor, in the Earth Sciences
exhibits, which emphasize the exhibits are Mammals of galleries. Other fascinating
interconnectedness of all life on Asia and Mammals of Africa. and beautiful rocks in the
Earth. The Messages from the Suspended from the ceiling in 500-specimen display are a
Wilderness gallery is a good the World of Mammals gallery is topaz the size of a pear, in
place to start your exploration. the massive skeleton of a Right the sparkling Grainger Hall of
Eighteen wilderness park whale. The museum’s collection Gems, and a 312-lb (142-kg)
settings, from the Arctic to of birds is also particularly block of lapis lazuli, one of
Argentina, incorporate strong, with its informative Bird the largest ever found and
representative mammals Habitats, World of Birds, and its origin still a puzzle.
and their habitats. North American Birds galleries. The museum has a renown-
Also here is the Local A popular attraction is ed collection of dinosaur
Woodlands Four Seasons Bushman, a lowland gorilla fossils. The centerpiece,
Diorama, completed in 1902 brought from West Africa to displayed in the Stanley Field
by taxidermist Carl Akeley, who Lincoln Park Zoo in the 1920s. Hall, is 67-million-year-old Sue,
transformed the way museums So beloved by Chicagoans that the largest, most complete
displayed animals. For Akeley, the mayor gave him a voter’s Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton ever
habitat accuracy and the registra tion card, Bushman died in found. It was discovered near
authenticity of background 1951. He was then moved to the the Black Hills of South Dakota
details were equally important. museum where, preserved, he in 1990 by fossil-hunter Sue
Thus, each of the 17,000 wax continues to delight visitors. Hendrickson. The restored
Opened in 2011, the Field’s newest skeleton, the skull alone
permanent exhibition “Restoring weighing 600 lb (270 kg),
Earth” uses photographs, videos was unveiled in 2000.
and hands-on learning tools to Interactive exhibits tell the
immerse visitors in adventures
with museum scientists as they
promote conservation in various
parts of the world.
The museum’s 2.6 million
botanical specimens encompass
all major plant groups and every
continent. Particularly rich in
flowering plants and ferns of the
Americas, this is the world’s largest
museum exhibit dedicated
exclusively to plants. The tropical
aerial garden has remarkably
A golden eagle clutching its prey, by lifelike reproductions made from A collection of marine skeletons,
taxidermist Carl Akeley wax, glass and wire. exoskeletons, and fossils

090-091_EW_Chicago.indd 90 13/07/16 2:59 pm
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Flashmap follow-on template “UK” LAYER
(Source v1.5)
Date 7th January 2013
Size 125mm x 217mm