`` natural history '' be the official popular journal publish by the american museum of natural history , the oldest - and largest - museum of natural history in the western Hemisphere and without question , one of the world 's greatest museum . in its page it have feature brilliant essay by the likes of Roy Chapman Andrews , Margaret Mead , and Stephen Jay Gould , to name but a few of the many eminent scientist - both museum staff and outsider - who have contribute superb article on natural history to this magazine . it have retain a emphasis on scientific discovery , publish article pertain to ecology and other aspect of evolutionary biology -lrb- include paleobiology -rrb- , geology , astrophysics , archaeology and anthropology . recent issue have include brief article on biomechanic of various live organism , those pertain to recent and current exhibition such as the Petra exhibition on display at the museum from the fall of 2003 to early summer 2004 , and current ecological and anthropological research . current museum scientist , most notably Neil deGrasse Tyson , the director of the Hayden Planetarium , often report in these page on they ongoing research as well as on issue of a more general nature that might interest a scientifically-literate public . and to its credit , it have not shy away from controversy , publish for example , a issue on so-called `` Intelligent Design '' , which be see by its adherent as a compete scientific alternative to evolution via natural selection , but lack any scientific credibility from professional scientist , science educator and like-minded member of the general public .