Museum of Scotland

One of the most striking new landmarks in Edinburgh?s historic Old Town has got to be the new Museum of Scotland, which was opened by the Queen in December 1998. Designed by architects Benson and Forsyth, it has been described as the finest Scottish building of the twentieth century; I certainly found it an impressive and original structure. My visit to the museum last week was again part of my postgraduate course in museum studies, so I was looking at everything there with a critical eye; I hope that this viewpoint will lead to an op that other members find useful and informative. ● Location The Museum of Scotland can be found on Chambers ...  Read the complete review

When you look at the Museum of Scotland from the outside it does not look like an enormous building, but when you get inside it is amazing just how much there is to see here. The museum is housed over six floors and the exhibits are displayed in chronological order starting at the basement with Early People (8000 BC) working up to the Twentieth Century on the sixth floor. The museum was only opened in December 1998 so there is a wonderful feeling of freshness about the whole place. The museum presents the history of Scotland, telling the story of the land, its people and their achievements. Over the different floors there are many rooms and halls and ...  Read the complete review

The best way to spend a wet miserable day in Edinburgh is to haul yourself down to the National Museum, for the price of a couple of pints you can spend the whole day marvelling at the achievements of your ancestors. Not only will you be entertained you will be educated too! Not suprisingly many of the exhibitions are directly related to Scottish history so I guess Scots will find it more interesting than most, but don't let put you off! As with most museums some bits might not be to your taste - I found the whole floor of dug up bronze bits and pieces a bit dull - but there is enough in the place to be able to move quickly on to the next display. ...  Read the complete review

What happens to you after you die? Where will you be going? These are the questions that the exhibition "Heaven and Hell" is trying to answer. Well, the real answer is of course unknown, but this exhibition is a fascinating journey into rituals and beliefs about death worldwide. Its strength lies in its multicultural, comparative approach: For each of the relevant aspects of death and afterlife, the view is not restricted to one culture or a few religions. Instead, exhibits from different times and places give you a glimpse of the wide variety of approaches that humans have taken to understand and live with the experience of death and dying. The displayed ...  Read the complete review

Located on Chambers Street in Edinburgh, just across the street from Greyfriars Bobby, the Museum of Scotland tells the story of the country from the dawn of time through to modern-day life in Scotland, detailing the country's culture and wars, and addressing its history of scientific innovation and religion. There are six main sections to the museum, which are arranged chronologically. The first section "Beginnings" tells the early geological history of the country beginning 3,400 million years ago. Exhibits in this section are mainly rocks and fossils, and this region of the museum explains the establishment of the landscape and wildlife of the ...  Read the complete review