At the American Museum of Natural History 



tronomy and Astrophysics" series, will 

 begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Sky Theater. Tick- 

 ets are $8 ($6 for members). For Planetar- 

 ium information, call (212) 769-5900. 



Shark! Fact and Fantasy 



The habitat, anatomy, behavior, and 

 evolution of sharks will be the focus of an 

 exhibit in Gallery 3, opening Friday, Feb- 

 ruary 4. Models and interactive exhibits 

 will demonstrate how sharks perceive 

 their environment and prey through highly 

 specialized senses of sight, hearing, and 

 smell. Some of the many scientific and 

 medical uses of sharks wOl also be shown. 



Search for the Great Sharks 



Sharks have lived in the world's oceans 

 for more than 350 million years, and the 

 new IMAX film, opening in the Nature- 

 max Theater on Saturday, February 5, will 

 document scientists' underwater research 

 on these creatures. Featured are a view of 

 the largest and most rarely seen species, 

 the whale shark, and the birth of a baby 

 shark. Daily showtimes for Search for the 

 Great Sharks are 10:30 and 11:30 a.m., 

 and 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. To the Limit, an 

 IMAX film exploring the body's ability to 

 adapt to the demands of intense physical 

 action, will be shown at 12:30, 2:30, and 

 4:30 RM. daily. 



Chinese Shadow Theater 



The ancient Chinese folk art of shadow 

 theater was brought to this country in the 

 1850s by Chinese immigrants who 



worked on the railroads and in the gold 

 fields. In this art form, figures constructed 

 from colored and perforated translucent 

 animal hides are manipulated behind a 

 backlighted screen. On Tuesday, February 

 1, at 7:00 p.m. in the Kaufmann Theater, 

 the Yueh Lung Shadow Theater will enact 

 folk tales and epics from Chinese litera- 

 ture using exact Peking-style puppet repli- 

 cas from the Museum's collections. Call 

 (212) 769-5606 for ticket availabihty. 



Saving Grace at Angkor Wat 



Up until the last twenty years of war and 

 civil strife, Cambodia's Angkor Wat had 

 survived threats from humans and nature 

 for more than a thousand years. On Tues- 

 day, February 8, at 7:00 p.m., Bonnie 

 Bumham, executive director of the World 

 Monuments Fund, will describe the efforts 

 to conserve and restore Angkor's temples 

 and monasteries. This talk takes place in 

 the Kaufmann Theater For more informa- 

 tion, call (212) 769-5606. 



A Society of Wolves 



By the 1950s, wolves in the United 

 States had been shot, trapped, and poi- 

 soned to near-extinction. Rick Mclntyre, a 

 photographer, author, and naturaUst who 

 has spent sixteen years observing wild 

 wolves in Alaska and Montana, will talk 

 about the battle for the wolf's survival, at- 

 titudes toward wolves throughout 

 recorded history, and the controversial 

 issue of reintroducing wolves to Yellow- 

 stone and areas in the Southwest and 



A Bolson tortoise in llie Chihuahuan desert grassland 



Michael Klemens 



Northeast. This slide-illustrated lecture 

 will be given on Thursday, February 17, at 

 7:00 RM. in the Kaufmann Theater. Call 

 (212) 769-5606 for information. 



The Search for our Human Origins 



Paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson, 

 author of Lucy: The Beginnings of Hu- 

 mankind and adviser to NOVA's television 

 series Ancestors: The Search for Our 

 Human Origins, will give a talk on Mon- 

 day, February 14, at 7:00 rm. in the Main 

 Auditorium. Among the topics he will 

 cover are the discovery of the newest fos- 

 sils of Australopithecus afarensis and 

 whether Homo survived as a noble hunter 

 or a cunning scavenger. Tickets are $25. 

 Call (212) 769-5310 for ticket availability. 



The Language and Meaning of DNA 

 The semiotic analysis of languages and 

 texts as sets of signs and symbols offers a 

 new way of looking at DNA. On Thurs- 

 day, February 24, at 7:00 rm., Robert Pol- 

 lack, biologist and former dean of Colum- 

 bia College, will talk about how DNA 

 affects our understanding of common 

 chemistry. Tickets are $25. Call (212) 

 769-5310 for more infoiTnation. 



Spring Lecture Series 



Native American life in New York 

 City — from prehistoric times, through the 

 colonial period and into the modem era — 

 will be the subject of four consecutive 

 Monday evening lectures beginning Feb- 

 ruary 28. Tickets for the series are $35. 



The forests of North America, from the 

 temperate rain forest of the Pacific North- 

 west to the deciduous woodlands of the 

 East, will be discussed in a series of five 

 slide-illustrated lectures. The series will 

 be given twice: On five consecutive 

 Thursday evenings, starting February 24, 

 the talks will begin at 7:00 rm.; and on 

 five consecutive Monday afternoons, 

 starting February 28, the talks will begin 

 at 2:30 rm. 



Call (212) 769-5305 for a full schedule 

 of lectures and field trips. 



These events take place at the American 

 Museum of Natural History, Central Park 

 West at 79th Street in New York City. The 

 Kaufmann Theater is located in the 

 Charles A. Dana Education Wing. The 

 Museum has a pay-what-you-wish admis- 

 sion policy. For more information about 

 the Museum, call (212) 769-5100. 



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