You are here >
In to Las Vegas >
Las Vegas Attractions >
Off The Strip >
Nevada State Museum
Nevada State Museum
Collecting and preserving is the most immediate concern for the Nevada State Museum, a responsibility upheld by The Nevada State Museum and Historical Society. While no doubt an awesome undertaking, the museum has made it appear effortless, with displays depicting Nevada's colourful past presented in a variety of imaginative formats.
The Sky At Night
Exploring the night sky over Nevada is perhaps the best photography exhibition in the museum's permanent collection. Photos taken by Nevada astronomer John Mowbray capture the Hale-Bopp comet and the alignment of Venus and Jupiter over Red Rock Canyon, as well as the last lunar and solar eclipses, and all appear clear and bright. The meagre $2 admission pays for itself right here.
An Interesting Past
There's a vast amount more, as you move on to a gallery that explores Nevada's prehistoric times, the desert life that has thrived here and the discovery of silver, There is also a war poster telling consumers to "save waste fats for explosives," a map of volcanic activity in Nevada and a cartoon distributed by the Atomic Energy Commission (circa 1955) demonstrating the "proper use of sunglasses when viewing the atomic bomb."
Success
The museum's success is in its information, which is supplemented by newspaper clippings, audio commentary and photos. It's one thing to read about the destruction caused by an atomic bomb, quite another to see a photo sequence following 2.3 second collapse of a typical frame house at the Nevada Test Site. Stand under the life-sized model of a 48-foot long ichthyosaur, the state fossil and marvel at bones from its front flipper, which are the size of a small adult.
There's a wealth of knowledge to be discovered at the Nevada State Museum and the only dry thing is the fossilized bones.
< Back to attractions off the strip
|
|
|
