At the American Museum of Natural History 



Biodiversity and Conservation 



The American Museum's Center for Bio- 

 diversity and Conservation is sponsoring a 

 series of five evening lectures. On Tuesday, 

 April 19, and Tuesday, April 26, Niles El- 

 dredge, curator in the Museum's Depart- 

 ment of Invertebrates, will review patterns 

 of biological evolution and extinction across 

 geological time and show how changing 

 patterns of human culture have affected 

 other species and their habitats. On Tues- 

 day, May 3, and Thursday, May 12, Joel L. 

 Cracraft, curator in the Department of Or- 

 nithology and acting director of the Center, 

 will explore the biodiversity crisis, its 

 causes and solutions. On Tuesday, May 17, 

 Michael J. Novacek, vice-president and 

 dean of science at the Museum, will talk 

 about understanding and saving the world's 

 species and the importance of biodiversity. 

 Tickets for the series are $40, and the lec- 

 tures begin at 7:00 p.m. Call (212) 769-5310 

 for information. 



An Evening with 

 Jean-Michel Cousteau 



Son of underwater explorer Jacques Yves 

 Cousteau and founder of the Cousteau Soci- 

 ety, Jean-Michel Cousteau will examine the 

 relationship between humans and the ocean 

 environment and illustrate his points with 

 film footage. The program, presented in 

 conjunction with the exhibition Sharks! 

 Fact and Fantasy in Gallery 3, will take 

 place on Monday, April 18, at 7:00 p.m. in 

 the Main Auditorium. For more informa- 

 tion, call (212) 769-5606. 



Food as Medicine 



In China, foods are divided into two cate- 

 gories, yin and yang. depending on the en- 



ergy they are believed to release in the body. 

 Tin foods (such as fruits, vegetables, crabs, 

 and fish) are said to cool the body; while 

 yang foods (such as eggs or fatty meats) are 

 thought to heat the system. Li Lian Xing, an 

 herbalist and traditional Chinese doctor, 

 will talk about the medicinal properties of 

 Chinese food and offer possible individual 

 diagnoses. In addition, gold-medal master 

 chefs Shi Lian Yong and Bian Jian Nian will 

 demonstrate the art of vegetable carving and 

 offer samples of healthful teas and foods. 

 This presentation win take place on Sunday, 

 April 10, at 2:00 and at 4:00 p.m. in the Mu- 

 seum's Auxiliary Dining Room. Tickets are 

 $5. For information, call (212) 769-5315. 



Evolution Follies 



An unorthodox view of nineteenth-cen- 

 tury Victorian natural history will be pre- 

 sented by Richard Milner (a senior editor of 

 Natural History) and a small musical cast. 

 The program will feature anecdotes and 

 slides, as well as songs about Charles Dar- 

 win, Thomas Huxley, and creationism. It 

 will take place on Thursday, April 7, at 7:00 

 P.M. in the Kaufmarm Theater. Tickets are 

 $15. Call (212) 769-5310 for information. 



A Historic Look at Building Stones 



Geologist Sidney Horenstein, the Mu- 

 seum's coordinator of environmental public 

 programs, will discuss stone architecture 

 from the time of the ancient Egyptians and 

 the Inca Empire until today. The shde-illus- 

 trated presentation will take place on Thurs- 

 day, April 21, at 7:00 p.m. in the Kaufmann 

 Theater. Call (212) 769-5606 for tickets. 



When Worlds Collide 

 The ultimate disaster movie, When 



A great white shark cruises in the waters ojf Australia. 



®1991 Chuck Davis 



Worlds Collide was first released in 1951 

 and included such calamities as a tidal wave 

 that crashed through Times Square. The 

 film will be shown on Saturday, April 30, at 

 3:00 P.M. in the Kaufmann Theater. Brian 

 Sullivan, the Hayden Planetarium's produc- 

 tion designer, will introduce the program. 

 Call (212) 769-5606 for information. 



Central African Art and Dance 



The tango, capoeira angola, and other 

 New World dances have their roots in Cen- 

 tral Africa. Robert Farris Thompson, pro- 

 fessor of art, African studies, and African- 

 American studies at Yale University, will 

 talk about Congo-Atlantic traditions in 

 dance and art on Wednesday, April 6, at 

 7:00 P.M. in the Main Auditorium. Tickets 

 are $5.00. For a complete schedule of events 

 in the Education Department's year-long 

 program "Global Cultures in a Changing 

 World" caU (212) 769-5315. 



Burroughs Awards 



Founded in 1921, the John Burroughs As- 

 sociation owns and maintains Burroughs's 

 rustic cabin, Slabsides, which is in West 

 Park, New York. The association, headquar- 

 tered at the Museum, will hold its annual 

 meeting on Monday, April 4, at 10:30 a.m. 

 Its annual award for nature writing (the 

 sixty-eighth) will be presented to David G. 

 Campbell, author of The Crystal Desert. 

 Natural history books for children and a 

 natural history essay will also receive 

 awards. The meeting is free and will be fol- 

 lowed by the award luncheon in the 

 Audubon Gallery. Tickets are $30. Call 

 (212) 769-5169 for information. 



Cosmic Background Exploration 



Observations from NASA's Cosmic 

 Background Explorer satellite have con- 

 tributed to an understanding of the uni- 

 verse's creation and evolution. As part of 

 the series "Frontiers in Astronomy and As- 

 trophysics," George Smoot, a research 

 physicist at the University of California's 

 Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, will give an 

 illustrated talk on Monday, April 1 1, at 7:30 

 P.M. Tickets are $8 ($6 for members). For all 

 events at the Planetarium, including the Sky 

 Show, "Orion Rendezvous: A Star Trek 

 Voyage of Discovery," call (212) 769-5100. 



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 Wmg. The Museum has 

 a pay-what-you-wish admission policy. For 

 more information about the Museum, call 

 (212)769-5100. 



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