Lucy Visit

I stopped by the Pacific Science Center on Friday to see the Lucy exhibit. I've got to say that it was very cool. The majority of the display was dealing with Ethiopian history and culture, but I'd expected that based on some other reports I'd read from the last stop of the exhibit tour. I'm probably as much a history nerd as I am a biology nerd, so I enjoyed the whole experience. I really wanted to have pictures, but there was no photography allowed. The Lucy fossils even had a full time guard.

The exhibit was really well done. There was information on how fossils are formed, how they are dated and how they are excavated and reconstructed. There was even enough hands-on touch-and-feel stuff to almost entertain the boy while I read every display. (Lori was super nice and kept him out of trouble so I could take my time.) The part I liked best (other than Lucy) was the progression of reconstructed skull casts showing all the known possible human ancestors. Another thing I enjoyed was the family trees comparing the state of knowledge in the early '70s when Lucy was discovered with what is known now. Huge progress has been made in our understanding of our evolutionary heritage.