The Field Museum is one of those places that you have to go to at least once in your life. A wide selection of aritfacts from the early indians up to egypt, and then back to the dinosaurs. I love their dinosaur exhibits. You can spend hours learning about what kind of creatures exhisted before man roamed the earth. I also enjoy the egyptian artifacts. You get to see some of the best items along with actual mummies!! Just a great place to take the kids to enjoy and relax.

Went to the field museum on Saturday. I was pretty hesitant about going and really didn't think it would be interesting. But I actually surprised myself and enjoyed it a lot. I paid about $9 and got to see a lot of stuff; I could have spent a lot more time there, but we had to get moving. Definitely recommend stopping, especially if you like museums.

Einstein is the major feature at the Field Museum, on display from October 17, 2003 through January 19, 2004. Plan for about two hours, if you like to see museum exhibits thoroughly. There is a lot of writing that you will want to read to experience it to the fullest. Even with the audio tour we spent two hours, because we needed to re-learn Einstein's theories which are all covered.

Einstein forever changed the way we look at the universe through his insight and creativity. He made us look at light, time, energy and gravity in a different way, making him the most famous scientist of the 20th century. What you forget is that he was not just a brilliant man, but a man with a generous imagination, because it was his imagination which helped him develop these theories.

In addition to understanding his theories, the exhibit also allows the visitor to learn more about Einstein the man. You'll see photographs, personal possessions, letters, multimedia displays and original manuscripts documenting his life. Included in the exhibit is the 1912 document in which Einstein first drafted his special theory of relativity and wrote the famous equation E=MC squared. You get to see the equation written in his own hand.

In addition to being a scientist, Einstein was also a humanitarian and anti-war activist. Born a Jew in Germany, Einstein lived in several countries before moving to the United States. Since he traveled constantly, he truly considered himself a citizen of the world. Einstein used his celebrity status to speak out on global issues including pacifism, racism, anti-Semitism, nuclear disarmament and more.

The letters, notebooks and manuscripts presented in this exhibition include his correspondence with political figures (like Franklin Delano Roosevelt about nuclear research), his diaries and his family letters to his wives.

I suggest purchasing the Curator's Audio Tour for an additional $5.00. The audio tour is narrated by the curator who happens to be an astrophysicst. When he first introduced himself I was concerned that it would be over my head, but he does an excellent job bringing complicated theories down to a layman's level. As you stop along the way to visit pieces of the exhibit, you hear extra information about his personal life and political relationships as well as scientific experts explain Einstein's theories.

The Field Museum also offers several public programs in conjunction with this exhibit. Explore the mysteries of black holes, Einstein's FBI file, and more through dynamic speaker events. The kids can have fun with Einstein's theories in hands-on family workshops.

Polar Thaw: Global Warming in the Artic is on display at the Field Museum from September 23, 2003 through November 16, 2003. This is a photographic exhibit which helps the visitor discover the environmental consequences of global warming. Color photos from the Arctic and Antarctic are displayed.

Gary Braasch is the nationally recognized photographer who documented the effects on the Earth's slowly increasing temperatures. The result of increased amounts of carbon dioxide and other heat traps gases in the atmosphere and causes global warming. The exhibition features over 30 beautiful images which demonstrate the impact of the climate change on the icy landscapes of the Arctic and Antarctic. Their inhabitants, including polar bears, caribou, penguins, and humans are also photographed.

While we all know about the effects of global warming, they do not hit home too often because they affect places so far away. There are photos of fjords which have receded hundreds of feet from where they were only 30 years ago. We see the pictures of penguins that keep coming to the same nesting ground due to years of habit. These grounds are no longer good for their eggs and are covered with snow. The penguins lay their eggs in the snow anyway and the eggs never hatch.

You can expect to learn a few things as well. One interesting fact I learned was about some beetles that destroy trees. Since the weather is not as cold as it used to be, their larvae live longer and are not killed off by the cold. These larvae grow into beetles and have destroyed the trees in the region.

I love the pictures of the animals and land that are exhibited. Reading the captions, you wonder how many more years these environments will be around.

Eviction and Homecoming: The Story of Brazil's Panara Indians is on display at the Field Museum from September 12, 2003 through February 8, 2004. This photographic exhibit allows visitors to follow this indigenous community's triumphant struggle to reclaim their homeland and cultural identity.

The photographs document the inspiring story of the of the Panara Indians who live in the rainforests of Brazil. The Panara had little contact with the industrialized world when they were approached by the Villas Boas brothers, two men hired by the Brazilian government in its efforts to clear the path for a Transamazonian highway. This contact with new people exposed them to their diseases and consequently, the Panara population dropeed to 50% in about three years. In 1973, the surviving members were relocated from the forests to a reservation, where they tried unsuccessfully to rebuild their way of life.

Two decades later, some of the Panara discovered that a portion of their original territory was not destroyed to develop the highway, and was still covered with forests. After a landmark court battle, the Panara were allowed to reclaim the rights to 1.2 million acres of their rainforest homeland. They returned to build a new village and begin again, while facing challenges of the newer generation who were not accustomed to the remote lifestyle.

The photographs of Pedro Martinelli tell the Panara story. In his black and white photographs, Martinelli captured the civilized world's first glimpse of the Panara (including pictures from that first meeting), their decimation from disease, the anguish of forced relocation, and the hope that came with the return to their beloved homeland. The writing next to each photograph is very thorough and explains the situation in detail.

The range of pictures involved is varied. The exhibit starts out with pictures of the workers clearing the forests for the highways. At this point, no contact with the Panara had been made. The men left clotheslines strung up with various gifts including food and other items. The Panara took the items, but no one ever saw them. The first time the men saw the Panara was from a plane flying over their village. The Panara shot arrows at the plane and you can see pictures of this event. The Panara were worried that they were found and moved away and burned their village to the ground.

There is also a film at the end of the exhibit which recaps the experience and contains interviews with some of the people involved.