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If you are coming to the Museum on Saturday, May 25, please use one of the following entrances: 79th Street and Central Park West, subway entrance, or Weston Pavilion (Columbus Avenue entrance). The 81st Street entrance will be closed, but the Hayden Planetarium Space Show will be shown on a normal schedule.

A Grand Amusement

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From Darwin's On the various contrivances by which British and foreign orchids are fertilised by insects (1862)

©AMNH Library


With typical understatement, Darwin once described his plant experiments as "a grand amusement." But the work was the furthest thing from a hobby; it was an ambitious, innovative research program that Darwin conducted at Down House for decades. Darwin looked at plants in a fresh way, fascinated by the intricate details of their structure and behavior. Above all, Darwin's plant research demonstrated the power of evolution by natural selection.