Man in His Environment

Field Museum of Natural History

This five-part walk-through experience placed urban-industrial man in relationship to global ecology.

The exhibit began with an introduction to the earth’s biomes, followed by “Ecological Realities”, a large format film that dealt with the principles of life; such as energy, food webs, and diversity. An immersive “Salt Marsh” allowed visitors to explore those principles in the context of an actual place.

“The Ascent of Man” took the visitor form the emergence of humans to urban industrial society in a matter of 25 steps. A second theater, “Implications for Change”, confronted viewers by describing our current lifestyle and outlining the effect we humans have on natural systems.