Florida Museum of Natural History

Took a day trip up to Gainesville Friday to look around. I spent quite a bit of time at the Florida Museum of Natural History and really enjoyed it! From the outside the museum doesn’t look like much, and I admit to feeling afraid that the hour and a half drive had been a waste. But the ol “don’t judge a book by its cover” cliche is true here. What’s inside is wonderful. It’s a professional museum from start to finish. There is a ton of information that would certainly take much longer to absorb than the couple of hours I had available. I was just starting to really explore the fossil hall in depth when I had to leave.

The butterfly exhibit was awesome. Even my teenage boy was mesmerized by the dazzling array of critters flittering right in front of our noses. I had one blue butterfly hitchhike on me for a few minutes.

I split my limited time between the fossils and butterflies, giving the rest of the place little attention. I took a quick tour of the other exhibits, and they were creative, professional and educational. But I had to break away from the family to spend more time playing in the fossil hall. As I went along, I did a bit of tweeting. You can check out a few of the things I learned at my twitter page. (Strangely, I lost quite a few followers today. I didn’t twitter much, and the messages I sent were as interesting as I could make them in 140 character. I don’t know what I did to send those folks away. Oh well.)

Last year when the big fight over evolution in the state science standards was raging — both in the board of education and the legislature — I had mentioned a few times that these decision makers need to visit this museum that’s right here in our own state. Now that I’ve finally had the opportunity to visit for myself, I will definitely be harping on this even more the next time idiots try to claim that evolution needs “critical analysis” or other such smelly crap. Spend a solid hour or more truly studying all that the fossil hall has to offer and there is no way a person can leave there thinking evolution is on shaky ground. To still think so would either mean the person is maliciously lying or willfully ignorant. Period.

So, take a trip to Gainesville to check out this state treasure if you ever have the opportunity. It’s well worth your time.

About Brandon Haught

Communications Director for Florida Citizens for Science.
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10 Responses to Florida Museum of Natural History

  1. Bingo says:

    Having been in Gainesville for a number of years, receiving high honors in the study of cause and effect in banking and finance along with human nature. The psychology of consumer confidence – yes empirical analysis and theory. (The same foundation of any study – esp. science). Everyone has some bias in their thinking that always ‘preconceives the outcome”. Those on both sides of the argument must admit their biases. It’s not the data that concludes this discussion it’s the worldview that shapes the outcome. Any clever or not so clever scientist can shape any opinion of the so called facts to make them “speak” to the conclusion that they want. It becomes a dogmatic point of contention. It all boils down to what philosophical view you have. The concluding postulate: Those who do not believe in God believe readily in evolution. Those who believe in a personal God see the facts in a different light and readily accept creation as a valid conclusion. This is provable empirically and by and through the study human nature.

  2. PatrickHenry says:

    Yeah, science is all how you feel about things.

  3. Gropius says:

    Over 10 years after graduating from UF, I took my family for a visit & stayed on campus there. Our highlights: Payne’s Prairie, watching the bats leave the bat house adjacent to Lake Alice, and The FL Museum of Natural History. Butterfly exhibit was incredible….we could have spent all day there. The rest of the museum was also top notch. Loved seeing the evolution of creatures in Florida come to life.

    And oh, we’re big believers in God and in facts…like evolution.

  4. Bingo says:

    Gropius, then you call God a liar when he says he created man and all the animals separately ?

  5. PatrickHenry says:

    Looks like another candidate for the spam bucket.

  6. BobH says:

    “Looks like another candidate for the spam bucket.”

    Bingo.

  7. Pineyman says:

    @ Bingo –

    Funny, I thought that’s what Adam & Eve did after they ate the fruit. When god came looking for them, they had hidden themselves (and also covered up) and he had to call for them to come out….

  8. Linda says:

    Isn’t it funny how anyone speaking to the contrary or simply, politely questioning evolutionary theory is automatically threatened with the spam bucket. This isn’t science, what are you guys afraid of. Just what are you hiding.

  9. PatrickHenry says:

    Linda: Don’t start out by trolling, okay? Just don’t. Here’s lookin’ at you, kid.

  10. Wolfhound says:

    No, Linda, mostly we just point and laugh at the credulous morons. “Bingo” got a one-time-only, special reaction because his follow-up post was particularly stupid. Your initial post doesn’t bode well, BTW. Paranoid allusions to a Great Science Conspiracy is a sure sign of crackpottery. Just sayin’.

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