Dem bones, dem bones, dem plaster bones

We went to the Natural History Museum on Friday, en famille except for Daniel who doesn't do queuing. The date was carefully chosen to hit Adam's inset day (Baker day) prior to the one week break (half-term), so the place wouldn't be crowded. Unfortunately we failed to observe that not all education authorities operate the same calendar and the place was crowded with children on their week's holiday.

I've been to the Science Museum several times and love it because it has things with engines, but my fleeting visits to the adjoining building have totalled in the region of an hour of boredom. This may be due to me not having appreciated fine architecture at the age of nine. The museum building combines ecclesiastical touches with more than a hint of railway shed - and the occasional hospital corridor thrown in. Coincidentally one of my colleagues did a walking tour of the Crystal Palace park at the weekend and was told that the three great Kensington museums were funded by the unfathomable income from the Great Exhibition. I don't know if it's true: Wikipedia is silent on the subject.

Anyway, our reason for being there was the dinosaurs... Adam is obsessed. He's not the only one: the 15-minute queue stretched right around Dippy the diplodocus back in the main hall. Dare I say it though, the whole thing seemed a little dumbed-down. The most impressive exhibit, a genuine half-entombed carcass with a section of skin still in place, was right by the door and quickly passed by en route to the raised walkway leading towards the animatronic T Rex. (Which has a split in its neck, by the way.) Perusal of the exhibition in its entirety reveals that nearly all the skeletons on display are casts rather than real bones, that few enough bones have been found to render the reconstruction of dinosaurs little more than educated guesswork in many cases, and that indeed much dino-related palaentology is based on surmise and theory rather than evidence. That does not stop kids - and a fair few adults, judging from the success of Jurassic Park - being enchanted. Adam thinks dinosaurs are the best thing since long before sliced bread and knows far more about them than I ever wish even to have any interest in.

Fortunately we had time to see the stuffed animals, the sabre-tooth skeleton, the creepy-crawly room and the humungous (though disproportionate) model of the Blue Whale which is one of the museum's most famous pieces. Unfortunately we didn't have time to see Archie the giant squid or the geological collection, among other things. A return visit is in order.

I am impressed that such a vast collection of artifacts and knowledge should be entirely free to view. My only concern is that it is wasted on the majority of the British public. Then again, if they went as well, we would still be queuing.