Harvard Museum of Natural History

Introduction

The Harvard Museum of Natural History, on the Harvard campus in Cambridge, Boston, is the main public venue among Harvard four natural history museums, uniting the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Herbaria, Mineralogical Museum, and Peabody Museum of Anthropology. Though smaller than the Smithsonian complex, it is esteemed for academic depth and precious holdings. The most famous exhibit is the Glass Flowers, over 4,000 glass plant models made by German artisans Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka from 1886 to 1936 for Harvard botany teaching, covering 780-plus species with craftsmanship so fine as to fool the eye, hailed as the pinnacle of glass art and the only complete collection of its kind in the world. The mineral gallery holds over 1,500 fine specimens including a 1,600-carat giant topaz and the world largest kunzite. Comparative Zoology displays whale skeletons and dinosaur fossils, with a 30-meter Kronosaurus skeleton breathtaking in scale. The anthropology gallery Maya and Mesoamerican holdings are among America finest. It is both a Harvard research hub and a public window into natural mysteries.

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