On the opposite side of Harvard Square, past the Yard and Memorial Hall, is the Harvard Museum of Natural History. It consists of the Harvard University Herbia, the Museum of Comparative Zoology, and the Mineralogical and Geological Museum. It is also affiliated and connected with the Peabody Museum of Archeology and Ethnology. The Natural History Museum is full of examples of animal species, stuffed of course, in the Museum of Comparative Zoology. They have been collected from all over the world, and it is one of the most comprehensive collections anywhere. The museum also has a fantastic display of minerals in the Mineralogical and Geological section. A new exhibit, “Origins: Life’s First 3 Billion Years,” explores how life as we know it came to be. There are many theories, and there have been many attempted experiments, but nobody knows for sure. The exhibit is based on Harvard professor Andrew Knoll’s work. There are slides visitors can look at with examples of bacteria, and there is an explanatory video that shows how life could have began. The video explicates how bacteria were the first life form. To explore how bacteria were formed, Stanley Miller, a scientist in 1953, did an experiment with simulated lightening in a beaker to recreate the Earth’s early atmosphere. In the beaker bacterial goo formed, and the idea of how life on Earth initiated was sprung forth. It did not prove the theory was true, just that it was a possibility. Andrew Knoll said, “The deeper history of life and the greater diversity of life on this planet is microorganisms-bacteria, protozoan, algae. One way to put it is that animals might be evolution’s icing, but bacteria are really the cake.” The exhibit also explains that even though animals have only been around for 15 percent of Earth’s history, we have done more damage to the planet than anything else. Wandering through the halls of the museum, past all the animals and bones, brings visitors to the Peabody Museum. The giant Mayan temple immediately strikes the visitor walking into the room. The Peabody Museum is filled with artifacts that Harvard archeologists have pillaged from all over the world, including South America, The South Pacific, and Australia. Downstairs in the museum is the Lewis and Clark exhibition. It includes gifts given to them on their first excursion. Most of the Native Americans they met had never met a European before and could only communicate by trading gifts and smoking the peace pipe. In the collection, there is an amazing dress given to the explorers made with animal skin, shells, and porcupine strands. By the time they had come to that area, the dress was out of fashion, but Lewis and Clark thought the dress was an incredible piece to take back with them to what they considered the “civilized world.” The Harvard Natural History Museum and the Peabody Museum are located at 26 Oxford Street in Cambridge. It is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. “Origins of Life: Earth’s first 3 Billion Years” is open until April 2005. “From Nation to Nation: Examining Lewis and Clark’s Indian Collection” is open through December 2006.