California Academy of Sciences

Reviews 3

BR

Bruce

The California Academy of Sciences is among the largest museums of natural history in the world. In 1853, just three years after California joined the United States; seven men assembled in a candle lit room in San Francisco and founded the first scientific academy west of the Atlantic seaboard. Over the past 160 years, the Academy has grown to become the fourth largest natural history museum in the country. Home to Steinhart Aquarium, Morrison Planetarium, and the Kimball Natural History Museum, as well as world class research and education departments, the Academys mission is to explore, explain, and sustain life. In its early days, the Academy consisted of a group of naturalists who met weekly in a small Victorian office in San Francisco, where scientific papers were presented on topics of interest to a group of curious citizens. In 1868, it was renamed as the California Academy of Sciences. In 1874, the academys first official museum opened at the corner of California and DuPont Streets (now Grant Avenue) in what now is Chinatown, and drew up to 80,000 visitors a year. In 1891, to accommodate its increasing popularity, the academy moved to a new and larger building on Market Street. In 1906, the great San Francisco Earthquake struck and left the museum in charred ruins. But even as the city burned, a two-year Academy expedition to the Galapagos Islands was gathering the material that would form the nucleus of the institutions new collections. In 1916, the Academy found a new home, the North American Hall in Golden Gate Park. In 1923, Steinhart Aquarium, the most diverse aquarium in the world, was added and over the next eight decades, five major exhibit halls as well as buildings for research were constructed to help further the Academys mission to explore, explain, and protect the natural world. In 1934, the Simson African Hall was added. In 1951, the addition of the Science Hall was added. In 1952, the Morrison Planetarium was added. The Morrison Planetarium was the seventh major planetarium to open in the United States and featured a "one of a kind star projector," built by academy staff members (in part using the expertise gained doing the optical work for the U.S. Navy during World War II). In 1959, the Malliard Library, Eastwood Hall of Botany, and Livermore Room all were added. Throughout the 1960s, universities concentrating on the new field of molecular biology divested themselves of their specimen collections, entrusting them to the academy and leading to a rapid growth of the academys holdings. In 1969, another new building, Cowell Hall, was added to the site. In 1976, several new galleries were opened In 1977, the "fish roundabout" was constructed. In 1989, nature again took its toll in the form of the Loma Prieta earthquake. Major structural damage left the Academy in need of another beginning. Our visit: Went there on opening day, big mistake! The only good That was a mistake but still, worth the trip...Other than being bumper to bumper with other visitors who some had the same thought of the crowds, it was interesting to see how they made improvements here. They added new solar panels, covered the roof with dirt and plants and redid the whole interior which looks great. It was also hot inside and I dont think they turned the AC on. I also thought the price was steep but I guess your contributing to science! Great place!

A

A Private User

We decided to visit the Academy this last sunday. First of all, there was a huge line of cars we had to wait in to go into the parking garage, which is expected. However, when we finally got up and ready to go in, we saw a sign that the garage was full. I really think they should have posted a sign a bit further out to save people time and gas, waiting in a line going no where. When we finally found street parking we walked up and saw two huge lines of people on each side of the building, waiting to buy tickets for entry. As we were waiting, there was a worker going through and repeating to everyone that its better to come during the week day than on the weekend, which I agree with and was helpful to hear, but after about 20 times hearing him say the same thing, it got old. The tickets were $25 each to get in, so I was thinking, "Man, this place better be good" $50 bucks for two people is a lot to spend in these bad economic times. We finally got in and the place was just covered with people. Some of the exhibits were interesting, cool fish and such, but I was disappointed that the shark round about had been taken away. The planetarium and some other exhibit were already sold out, so we didnt get to see two of the new things. We liked seeing the white alligator, and also something I really liked was these tree like floating creatures (cant remember what theyre called). The last thing we saw was the rainforest exhibit. There was a long line, but one of the guys working there told me I just had to see it, so we waited in line. As we were waiting, another worker there yelled, "If youre not up to the line beginning with in 10 minutes, then youre not gettin in today". I thought that was some what rude and could have been shouted more appropriately and respectfully. After all, we had all just spend $25 of our hard earned dollars to get in and didnt get to see some other stuff that wasnt available anymore. Luckily, we did get to see the rainforest. It was nice. Saw bats, lizards, birds, ants and butterflies. They actually have someone standing by the elevators with a net to catch the butterflies so they dont get in the elevator. Over all, it was an alright experience and Im glad I got a chance to do it, but still think its a bit expensive. I would recommend going during the week day to miss the mobs of people, but then how could you afford the ticket to get in, if you have to take a day off work to see it?

A

A Private User

I grew up in the San Francisco area and spent many weekends (and a few birthdays) at the old Academy of Sciences. Even as an adult, I enjoyed going at least once a year. I admit that it had gotten a little run down and was really looking forward to the newly renovated museum. We got there 5 months after opening day (on a weekday no less) and it was already packed at 9:30am. Elbow to elbow. The glass walls created a greenhouse effect so it was hot and muggy inside even though it was cool and crisp outside. The exhibits on the ground floor were a lot of photos of animals and videos of animals but I couldve stayed home to see that. My boyfriend was looking forward to the planetarium and I was looking forward to the rainforest exhibit. Unfortunately, the lines made that impossible. I felt like I was at Disneyland. Based on our feelings on the rest of the museum we decided that it probably wouldnt be worth the wait and left after an hour. Wed already seen everything else. The old aquarium was a big long hall with fish tanks on both sides so you never really had to worry about missing anything. The new museum is a mad house. Exhibits all over the place with tiny corridors that get jammed as soon as one person stops to look in a tank. The old aquarium used to have the exhibits at adult height with a step for the children to walk on so they could see them. The new exhibits are at child height so I (a not especially tall woman) had to not only bend over but squat at each exhibit to be able to see anything. It was exhausting. And the sharks were gone. They didnt just move them. Theyre just gone. Its almost like the architects put more thought and effort into the eco-friendly aspect of the place and completely forgot that people dont come to an aquarium or natural history museum to see architecture. They want to see animals. If you make it hard to see the few animals on display, people wont want to come back. Unfortunately, as much as I loved the old museum, I probably wont go back to this one. I recommend everyone forget about the Academy of Sciences (and the $70 it cost for admission for 3) and head over to Pier 39. Their Aquarium by the Bay is small but much more fun, informative and interactive. And cheaper!

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