Author: Kevin McCartney

We are enroute from Bratislawa, Slovakia to Praha (Prague), Chech Republic (also known as Chechia) on board a train.  We very seldom travel on board trains in the US, but travel in Europe shows that this can be done with surprising efficiency.  On this trip, we sat next to a little area where children could watch videos for entertainment, and is one of the many interesting ideas I see on these trains.  Trains are one of the things that I think we will have to get back to once the predicted oil peak transpires.  I know that airplanes work as mass transportation as well, but trains can actually be powered by electricity while large airplanes cannot.  (You probably do not want to ask me where the electricity [or hydrogen fuel] will have to come from).

A dinosaur egg nest showing that the eggs were laid in pairs, something that I did not previously know.  Modern birds also have two oviducts but one is closed, thus eggs are laid singly.

Those who have visited my office in Presque Isle know that to be decorated in pterosaurs.  Here is a large full-sized skeletal construction in walking stance.

Shown here are reconstructions of Homo neanderthalensis and Australopithecus afarensis (“Lucy”).  The models – if you can them that – are real size, very well done and can be examined from direction very closely, and are typical of the high quality of many of the special exhibits in this museum. The Neanderthal display is of an older and younger male and shows how the skull developed as the individual matured, with the “sloping” forehead of the adult.  The australopithecines are a couple, displayed in the context of a cast of Mary Leakey’s footprints from Laetoli, set into the floor – I actually walked out the trackway.

I did not take pictures but should mention the simply incredible displays of iron and bronze- age artifacts and culture.  Absolutely fascinating, especially as this is something that I previously knew little about.

For some reason, these pictures came in out-of-focus – this was in a small special room and the camera must have reacted badly in the odd light conditions – but I show these anyways.  This is the world’s most famous prehistoric human artifact, the Venus of Willendorf, made circa 29,500 years ago.  This is about the size of a ladies fist (11 cm), found 1908, carved from oolitic limestone.

Johanne Beringer was one of the early scientists who tried to systematically study fossils.  The problem was that he published a book in 1726 on spectacular “fossils” that in reality were carved by some very obnoxious students of his.  The point here is that so little was known at the time about fossils in general and more specifically the fossilization process that he could be taken in by such a hoax.  This is one of the original “fossils.”  I have heard that several of these survived in the Science Museum in London, but this is the first I have ever seen personally; size is about 25 cm across, so that is a pretty large fly, which should have given Beringer an inkling.

This (left) is the largest fossil spider in the world, from Argentina.  The body area is about 35 cm long – the size of a casserole dish.  The spider lived in the Carboniferous Period at a time when oxygen levels where higher than today, which produced larger arthropods.

The Science Museum in Vienna has two floors, geologic and human history on the first and biology on the second.  We concentrated on the first floor.  Each room is extremely ornamented with sculptures and paintings around the very tall ceilings.  There is much to see in the old-style cases, with well-done videos included near the walls.  Here are a couple of pictures of the general display areas.

I like the European Science Museums.  American Science Museums, I am sorry to say, are pretty seriously dumbed down: the assumption is that the audience consists basically of children who know NOTHING and have to have the basics explained, with plenty of room between displays for perspective, I guess.  European Museums have displays that are much more compact, with much… much more.  There are lots of interesting details, and especially interesting examples of things for those who have some background and can make the intellectual connections.  The central museum area, much like the Smithsonian Mall, consists of a variety of extravagantly built structures, here centered around a huge statue of Empress Maria Theresa, the only female ruler of Austria during the regal period; she had 16 children, was on the throne for 40 years and pretty much established the governmental structure until the empire collapsed in 1918 with the end of WWI. The Museum of Natural History (Naturhistisches Museum) is the building beyond the statue.

This one is a reminder to us as an idea for accommodations on a return trip.  Our motel this time is a nice one, right near the St. Stephans Cathedral, but pricey.  We have tried our hand at finding a good cheap place from a distance, with mixed results.  But we had to go a bit into the suburbs, beyond the Ringstrasse around the central area, to get to a English language theater to see the Star Wars Rouge One movie, and near there is this place, with another Pension (guesthouse) in the distance.  Irish Pub nearby, which is a good sign.  This is one metro stop – and the metro stops are very convenient, with all-day pass at 8 Euros – or an eight minute walk from the museum-quarter near the Maria Theresa statue, and three stops from Stephansplatz.  Don’t know the cost or rooms but the location it good.  Something to keep in mind for the next visit.

This location is on Kirckengasse near the corner with Mariahifer street, in amongst good architecture and shops, very near the Newbaugasse Metro stop on the U3 line.