The Geek Atlas

061

Natural History Museum, London, England

51° 29′ 45.54″ N, 0° 10′ 34.94″ W

The Stuffed Museum

There are natural history museums, and then there is the Natural History Museum in London. Set in the grandest of buildings and containing a truly extensive collection going back over 250 years, the Natural History Museum is simply the best museum explaining the natural world. And best of all, like the neighboring Science Museum (Chapter 77), entry is free.

The Natural History Museum traces its beginnings to the collection of natural curiosities made by Sir Hans Sloane during the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Sloane was a practicing doctor (mostly to the upper classes, making him a wealthy man) but also made a number of voyages, including one to Jamaica where he catalogued 800 then-unknown species of plant. While in Jamaica he found the local drink of cocoa mixed with water to be nauseating, but invented a drink made of milk and cocoa that went on to great success when manufactured ...