The DC Traveler

I love taking day trips to Baltimore.  It’s less than 90 minutes from Washington, DC to downtown Baltimore and there’s always tons to do. 

Recently, my college-aged niece and nephew visited me from the West Coast and we took a day trip up to Baltimore.  We visited the National Aquarium, (which I’ll write about in a couple of days), and also the impressive Body Worlds 2 exhibit, at the Maryland Science Center at the Inner Harbor.

The exhibit is not for the squeamish, but a must for anyone interested in biology, physiology or how the human body works.  The exhibit displays a series of posed placistized human bodies, which detail what you can’t see inside the human body - the skeleton, muscles, bones, the respiratory, circulatory and nervous systems.

Ranging from full-size bodies to the smallest of individual human systems, the exhibit provides a unique view of the inside of the human body and its phenomenal complexities.

Body Worlds has been commended as one of the few human body exhibitors that can properly document the sources for all of its bodies on exhibit, as most bodies were willed to the exhibit by the person before they died, and died from natural causes.

Many of the bodies are posed an athletic activities, including a skateboarder, a soccer player in mid-kick, a baseball player completing a swing, and a pair of ice skaters in the head spin. Additionally, there are several animals on display as well, including a camel who’s head is sliced in three dimensions.

While your first reaction may be to cringe, the bodies are actually beautiful pieces of art, just human art; all portrayed in a responsible and respectful manner.

The preservation process is complex multi-step process that takes months, first starting with the removal of fluids, and ending with the injection and application of a silicone polymer that preserves the body.

My niece, who is interested in studying veterinary sciences, had to be literally dragged through the exhibit, as she was mesmerized with each display and read virtually every placard and description.

On the other hand, I had only one section of the exhibit which made me a bit uncomfortable, the section on human development in the womb. Not by the way it was portrayed, but by the fact that these embryos and unborn infants didn’t get a chance to live.

And if you’re a smoker, get ready to be shocked into quitting. The display of healthy lungs, smoker’s lungs and the lungs of a coal miner suffering from black lung disease is enough to make rational smoker quit on the spot.  There’s even a drop box for smokers to leave their cigarettes in the exhibit. 

Body Worlds 2 runs through the first of September.  It’s an educational and amazing exhibit that mature children, teens and adults of all ages can both enjoy and learn about the body and how it works.

In fact, just before our visit, a military team of nurses and medics toured the exhibit before being deployed, as part of a refresher on the human body that you can’t get out of any book.

Viewer discretion is advised. Parents should seriously consider any possible impact on young or more sensitive children.

Body Worlds 2
Maryland Science Center
601 Light Street, at the Inner Harbor
Baltimore, MD 21230 (map it)

Dates and Times - Daily 9:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., Fri. 9-5, Sat. 9-6, , Sun. 9-5, through September 1, 2008. 

Tickets - Tickets include admission to the Maryland Science Center.  Adults - $24.00, children 3-18 - $18.00, Seniors 62+ and adult students with ID - $23.00.  Tickets are available online at Ticketmaster.

Parking - Paid garage/lot parking is available in the area, for around $14.00

Images - Taken with permission from Body Worlds 2, personal collection ©2008, Jon Rochetti.

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