Essay

I turned in my essay on the Natural History Museum yesterday. I was required to keep it less than one thousand words, or else I think it would have been a much better essay. It was good though, nonetheless. It was interesting to write, more interesting than I expected. Construction began on the current Natural History Museum in 1870, about ten years after Darwin published On the Origin of Species. By this time, the scientific world was divided over the evolution v. creation debate. The supervisor of the museum, a man named Richard Owen, was a staunch creationist. Owen had a huge part in designing the current museum, even though the official architect was Alfred Waterhouse. As such, there are plenty of architectural features of the museum which support creationism. First of all, the whole museum resembles a church more than a museum, and its two central spires were directly inspired by German cathedrals. Owen wanted sculptures of animals all over the museum, which there are, and they are very entertaining, but they are kept separate; sculptures of living species were confined to the west end of the museum, whereas sculptures of extinct creatures were kept on the east, stressing the separation between the two. Also, when the museum was built (I think I mentioned this before) there was a sculpture of Adam on the central gable above the entrance. He is higher than all the animals but well below the cathedral towers on either side of him, stressing man’s subservience to God.

Probably the most obvious hint at the museum’s pro-creationism bias is the main hall, which bears strong resemblance to a cathedral. There are stained glass windows and arches, with a huge vaulted ceiling overhead, and it was described directly after it opened as the Westminster Abbey for the animals, etc. It’s very clearly resembles a church. I found it very funny, therefore, when I discovered that the sculpted man seated at the far end of the hall where, in a cathedral, the altar belongs, was not Richard Owen or some other museum supporter, but Charles Darwin! Behind enemy lines! I guess he’s not technically considered an enemy of the museum anymore, but I thought it was very funny to find a sculpture of him in such a poignant place.

My friend Clara visited me for these past couple days on her way to Germany to start her study abroad program. It was nice to see a familiar face. We went out last night to the local Monday night pub (I think there’s a pub or two for every night of the week) and got some drinks with my friends.

One of my friends in the flat upstairs likes to play music, so we listened to him play the guitar songs he’s written, and he offered to let me borrow his ukulele to see if I can learn anything. It’s very exciting. I fashioned a pick out of a hotel swipe card I’d been using as a bookmark, and now I’m on my way. I already know two chords!