Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences facts for kids
 |
|
| Established | 1912 |
|---|---|
| Location | Downing Street, Cambridge, England, United Kingdom CB2 3EQ |
| Type | Science museum |
| Collection size | 1.5 million specimens |
| Visitors | 168,021 (2019) |
| University of Cambridge Museums | |
The Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences is a super cool place to explore the history of our planet! It's the geology museum for the University of Cambridge in England. Here, you can discover amazing rocks, minerals, and fossils. It's one of the oldest museums connected to the University of Cambridge.
Contents
History of the Museum
How the Museum Started
The museum's story began with a scientist named Dr John Woodward. He spent over 35 years collecting almost 10,000 specimens. These were kept in five special wooden cabinets. When he passed away, he left two of these cabinets to the university. The university later bought two more, and the last one was added in the 1840s. Guess what? These original cabinets are still used in the museum today! Dr. Woodward also left money to create a special teaching job called the Woodwardian Professor of Geology.
Later, another important person, Adam Sedgwick, helped grow the collection a lot. He even bought several ichthyosaur skeletons. Ichthyosaurs were ancient marine reptiles that looked a bit like dolphins! Adam Sedgwick convinced the university to find more space for the growing collection. By the time he died, the collection was huge! So, everyone decided to build a whole new museum to remember him.
Building the Sedgwick Museum
The building of the Sedgwick Museum was managed by Thomas McKenny Hughes. He was very good at getting things done! He convinced the university to build the museum. He also raised a lot of money, over £95,000, from people who wanted to help. The museum officially opened its doors on March 1, 1904. King Edward VII even came to the opening ceremony!
Amazing Collections
The Sedgwick Museum has about 2 million rocks, minerals, and fossils! These specimens cover a massive time span of 4.5 billion years. They are super important for scientists who want to learn more about Earth's past. They also help people like you learn and enjoy geology! You can find some information about the collections on the museum's website.
Mineral Collections
The museum has between 40,000 and 55,000 mineral specimens. These come from all over the world! There are also more than 400 pieces of meteorites. Many of these minerals are displayed in the special Mineral Gallery.
Charles Darwin's Collection
The 'Beagle' Collection has about 2,000 rocks and a few fossils. These were collected by the famous scientist Charles Darwin. He gathered them during his amazing trip around the world on HMS Beagle from 1831 to 1836. Imagine exploring the world and finding all these cool things!
Other Important Collections
- Harker Collection: This collection has many igneous and metamorphic rocks. It's named after Alfred Harker, who spent many years organizing it.
- Maurice Black Sedimentary Petrology Collection: This collection includes about 32,000 rock specimens. It also has very thin slices of rock that scientists can look at under a microscope.
- Sedgwick Museum Archive Collection: This isn't about rocks, but about the museum's history! It has papers that show how the museum grew. It also includes notebooks and drawings from Adam Sedgwick himself.
- Palaeontological Collection: This collection holds over 1 million fossils from all over the world. Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of ancient life.
The museum also has a special building in West Cambridge called the A. G. Brighton Building. It's used for taking care of the geological collections and storing them safely.
Special Exhibitions
.jpg)
In 2009, the museum had a big exhibition called Darwin the Geologist. This was to celebrate Charles Darwin's 200th birthday! The exhibition showed Darwin's early work on geology. It also displayed many of the specimens he collected during his Beagle voyage. A special sculpture of a young Darwin was also shown for the first time at this event.
Visiting the Museum
It's free to visit the Sedgwick Museum! You don't need to buy a ticket. The museum is open from Monday to Friday and on Saturdays. It's sometimes open on Bank Holidays too.
The Sedgwick Museum is a great place to learn more about Earth Sciences. They often have special activities for families and individuals. They also put on temporary exhibitions and workshops. The museum logo features an Iguanodon skeleton, which you can see near the entrance. Even though the skeleton is mounted standing up (which scientists now know isn't how it walked), it's a famous part of the museum!
See also
In Spanish: Museo Sedgwick de Ciencias de la Tierra para niños
- Category:Geology organizations
