Come Explore the Yale Peabody Museum!

In 2009, worldwide celebrations will mark the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of The Origin of Species.

The Yale Peabody Museum will commemorate this momentous occasion with a new original exhibition, Darwin: 150 Years of Evolutionary Thinking.

Click here for Darwin 2009 Activities at the Peabody

More Darwin 2009 Events at Yale

Unless otherwise noted, events are free and open to the public.

Yale Celebrates Darwin
A portal to events during The Year of Darwin at Yale.

A Museum of Ideas:
Evolution Education at the
Peabody Museum during the 1920s

by Alison M. B. Logan

[923 KB PDF]

Above: The original Yale Peabody Museum buillding on the corner of High and Elm streets in New Haven.

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“Biodiversity Past, Present, and Future:
From the Island of Madagascar to Island Earth”

The mass extinction event we are currently witnessing is especially devastating in fragile refugia that harbor unique species. One of these hot spots is Madagascar, the research terrain of Alison F. Richard, Vice-Chancellor, Cambridge University, who was awarded the Yale Peabody Museum’s Addison Emery Verill Medal on April 23, 2008.

The Edward P. Bass Distinguished Lecture by Michael Novacek, Senior Vice President and Provost of Science, Curator of Paleontology, at the American Museum of Natural History was presented in conjunction with the Verrill Medal ceremony.

Click here to view a video clip of the lecture and presentation.
Running time: 1:43:43 | Best viewed with the latest version of RealPlayer

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“The Future of Life on Earth”

On October 17, 2007, the Yale Peabody Museum presented its highest honor, the Addison E. Verrill Medal, to Dr. Peter Raven and Professor Edward O. Wilson. The ceremony was followed by a “fireside chat” between these two great biologists, moderated by Yale Corporation member Edward P. Bass. This wide-ranging, spirited (and sometimes humorous!) discussion covered topics such as the catastrophic decline in biological diversity, the importance of preserving our natural environment, the human ecological footprint on Earth, and the significance of nature for our mental and spiritual lives.

Click here to view a video clip of this hour-long inspiring presentation.
Running time: 1:02:20 | Best viewed with the latest version of RealPlayer

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How Do You Make a Dinosaur?

Learn about the making of the Yale Peabody Museum’s bronze Torosaurus, a new and prominent presence on the Connecticut landscape and the first full-size public work of a dinosaur in New England.

From Egyptian mummies …

…to saber-toothed cats, to the once mighty dinosaurs — you can find it all at the Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University!

The highlight of the Peabody’s Daily Life in Ancient Egypt exhibition is the reconstructed tomb and recently restored Egyptian mummy and its sarcophagus, originally from Thebes, that dates to the Ptolemaic Period.

See 300 million years of prehistory…

…in the 110-foot panoramic mural The Age of Reptiles by Rudolph F. Zallinger. NEW! Download our podcasts

Between 1870 and 1873 O, C. Marsh led four Yale expeditions to the American West in search of fossils. Today the dinosaurs he named—Triceratops, Stegosaurus and “Brontosaurus”—dominate the Peabody’s Great Hall.

Available from The Museum Store
The Age of Reptiles: The Art and Science of Rudolph Zallinger’s Great Dinosaur Mural at Yale, our new full-color guide, with fold-out poster
Winner of the 2008 Publication Competition “Best in Show” Award from the New England Museum Association

Step into the world’s cultures…

…at the Yale Peabody Museum. See outstanding exhibitions on Ancient Egypt and the peoples of the Pacific, the Great Plains and the Northwest Coast.

Celebrate the earth’s biodiversity…

…and look into windows on the natural world through the Peabody’s 11 dioramas, painted by master artists J. Perry Wilson and Francis Lee Jaques. Each a unique blend of art and science, they depict the landscapes and biodiversity of Southern New England sites and other locations in North America.

And don’t miss…

…the new Hall of Minerals, Earth and Space, Zallinger’s The Age of Mammals mural, and our other exhibitions on primates, prehistoric mammals, fossil plants and Connecticut’s birds and biodiversity.

Come explore!

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