The Power of Poison is an immersive science exhibit designed by the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. The exhibit explores poison’s roles in nature, health, history, literature, and myth. The show attempts to unify various studies prevalent with the museum's research facilities in order to illustrate the fluidity between the fields. It was designed by the

AMNH Exhibitions Lab The AMNH Exhibitions Lab or AMNH Department of Exhibition is an interdisciplinary art and research team at the American Museum of Natural History that designs and produces museum installations, computer programs and film. Founded in 1869, the la ...

Locations

* New York City: American Museum of Natural History, 16 November 2013 - 10 August 2014 * Atlanta, Georgia:

Fernbank Museum of Natural History Fernbank Museum of Natural History, in Atlanta, Georgia, is a museum that presents exhibitions and programming about natural history. Fernbank Museum has a number of permanent exhibitions and regularly hosts temporary exhibitions in its expansi ...

, 7 February 2015 - 3 May 2015

Layout

The exhibit has four major sections, each highlighting poison as viewed by a different branch of science. Biology *Poison Alive The exhibit opens with three small live animals, showing poison as a universal characteristic of the biosphere. *The Chocó Rainforest Ascending a small platform, visitors enter a lengthy walkthrough diorama of Colombia’s dense Chocó lowland forest. As visitors walk through the rainforest, they encounter specimens that utilize poison in their daily lives. The purpose of the section is to examine poison in a context of multiple evolutionary strategies—including linked variations in the strength of a predator’s poison and the resistance of its prey. Anthropology *Myths and Legends Exiting the forest, visitors find themselves in a fairytale-like series of dioramas depicting poison in mythology. These include Grimm's Folktales,

Alice in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creatur ...

and

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

. Curated by the museum's social sciences departments, a selection of prominent historical artifacts are incorporated into the dioramas, revealing ways humans have imagined the presence of poisons. These, in the words of the designers, are meant to show "the potent power of poison as a longstanding motif in fairy tales, legends, and children’s stories." *Poison in History A winding gallery takes visitors past life-sized models of some of history's most famous poisonings, such as Mozart's supposed death, Cleopatra’s snakebite and Napoleon’s poisoning by arsenic. Forensics *Dissecting Poison Theater The "Dissecting Poison Theater" is a live show that describes how forensic anthropologists can detect poison. Visitors explore a real-world poisoning case that highlights advances in toxicology and forensics since the 19th century. This section is tied in with an iPad game, where visitors can solve their own forensic mystery. Health Sciences *Poison by Accident This section uses three large forced perspective dioramas to tell stories about poison's dangerous and mercurial nature. *Poison as Cure The exhibit's finale takes guests through a diorama illustrating natural poisons that can ameliorate cancer, quinsy, laryngitis, croup, and other global health problems.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Power of Poison American Museum of Natural History Exhibitions in the United States Poisons Science exhibitions