Light fantastic for Museum's 150th

This Friday the Oxford University Museum of Natural History and Pitt Rivers Museum will open late for a special Son et Lumiere show: part of a yearlong programme of events celebrating the OU Museum of Natural History's 150th anniversary. Visitors have already enjoyed a special performance of the play Hidden Glory: Dorothy Hodgkin in Her Own Words , about Nobel-winning chemist Dorothy Hodgkin, who worked in the OU Museum of Natural History (OUMNH) for many years, and can now see an exhibition of 525 million year old Chengjiang fossils from China, as well as finding out about how the Museum building was built. Upcoming highlights include installations such as The Ark and Ghost Forest , exploring issues around climate change, a celebration of the debate of 1860 held at the OUMNH - when Samuel Wilberforce and Thomas Henry Huxley debated Charles Darwin's Origin of Species - and a series of anniversary lectures from, amongst others, Sir David Attenborough, Professor Marcus du Sautoy ( The Story of Maths, Horizon ), and Dr George McGavin ( Lost Land of the Jaguar, The One Show ). May 2010 - Son et Lumiere and Pitt Rivers Torchlight Trail - A night of sensory delight with a Son et Lumiere and Pitt Rivers Museum torchlight trail. Features music, films and a bar. Son et Lumiere performances start at 9:30pm, 10pm and 10:30pm. Now until 31 December 2010 - A Wonderland of Natural History - An exhibition focusing on the creation of the Museum's remarkable building, a masterpiece of 19th century architecture and sculpture.