natural science museum

Natural history and natural science museums focus on the natural world, housing collections of specimens like birds, mammals, plants, rocks, minerals, and fossils. These museums trace their origins to the cabinets of curiosities from Europe's Renaissance and Enlightenment periods. Major institutions such as the Natural History Museum in London and the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., hold vast collections and are centers for taxonomic research. These museums also play a role in education, offering services for schools and the public, and increasingly focus on nature conservation and environmental matters.123