Minerals Exhibited At The Natural History Museum In London Editorial Photo

The museum is home to life and earth science specimens comprising some 80 million items within five main collections: botany, entomology, mineralogy, palaeontology and zoology. The museum is a centre of research specialising in taxonomy, identification and conservation. Given the age of the institution, many of the collections have great historical as well as scientific value, such as specimens collected by Charles Darwin. The museum is particularly famous for its exhibition of dinosaur skeletons and ornate architecture. The museum runs a series of educational and public engagement programmes. These include for example a highly praised `How Science Works` hands on workshop for school students demonstrating the use of microfossils in geological research.