The Insect Zoo on a quwt day in 1977. Formerly the Whale Hull, tins t.s the only jj/nl oj Hull 30 currently open. 



Long after // All Depends, in Hall 10, was dismantled, 

 a temporary show of Treasures of Mexico was installed. 

 Even though this was on exhibit for only two months, 

 it resulted in a permanent change in the building. A 

 balcony leading off the second-floor rotunda was built 

 out into the open space, and is now considered part of 

 Hall 10. 



Next in Hall 10 came Dynamics of Evolution, whose 

 unveiling in 1979 ushered in a new set of problems. 

 Some highly sophisticated concepts were being pre- 

 sented to the public, but in addition, it was the first 

 time the word "evolution" had ever been used in a 

 Museum display. This does not mean that the Insti- 

 tution had shied away from the subject. In the early 

 1920s, when anti-evolution laws were being passed by 

 some states, Secretary Walcott had Abbot prepare a 

 statement that was duplicated and passed around, though 

 it is not certain whether these pages circulated outside 

 the Museum. But while the old exhibits on the second 

 floor were designed to convey ideas of individual var- 

 iation and of change, the word evolution itself had not 

 been used. 



As might be anticipated, not everyone was pleased 

 with the creation of this hall, and the Smithsonian In- 

 stitution was sued. The United States District Court 



ruled that the exhibit came under the "increase and 

 diffuse" mandate of the Institution, and that the evo- 

 lution hall was not a religious display. The case was 

 appealed, and the right of the Smithsonian was upheld. 

 Justice Louis F. Oberdorfer of the United States Court 

 of Appeals made an interesting observation: "Finally, 

 appellants are under no compulsion to go to the Mu- 

 seum. If they choose to do so, they are free to avoid 

 the exhibits which they find offensive and may focus 

 on the other exhibits of which there are many.'"^ No 

 one in the Museum argued with this decision. 



In the late 1970s all the fossil halls in the east wing 

 of the main building were closed for renovation. The 

 concept of "Fossils: The History of Life" took shape, 

 and the two segments dealing with transition from sea 

 to land and with the appearance of the flowering plants 

 opened in Hall 4 in April 1980. A year later the di- 

 nosaurs made it back into the limelight in Hall 2. In 

 positioning of specimens and architectural style, the 

 present dinosaur hall bears no resemblance to either 

 the original one or the revamped model of the 1970s. 

 A ramp was built from the balcony on the east end of 

 the hall to another balcony extending off the second- 

 floor rotunda. The stairs from the east balcony leading 

 to the moon rocks disappeared; a platform for speci- 



124 



The Exhibits 



