Ramp of Life

The first exhibition gallery introduces both the primary concepts and the design approach of the museum. It is both pathway and exhibition. Visitors are introduced to the project of Natural Science—our efforts to understand Life—and they are introduced to the glorious wealth and beauty of Life in Panama.

The Device of Wonder is, in a sense, the whole space, but in particular a spectacular 14-meter long, 8-meter high, vividly colored glass mural depicting the abundant riot of life in Panama. The mural provokes the central question of the museum's narrative, as articulated by Charles Darwin himself during his first exploration of the Neo-tropics:

I have never experienced such intense delight... such a plenitude of forms, colors, behaviors—such a magnitude of Life! What explains the riot?

An original edition of Darwin's Origin of the Species focuses the introduction to the practice of Natural Science. In dialogue with this "riot," the visitor encounters three installations along the passage down the Ramp of Life:

• An accounting of science's effort to identify and order all forms of life on Earth — the All Species Project
• The project to understand the Origins of Life and its Diversity
• The ongoing task to discover and understand new life forms, and the pivotal role of Panama as a unique and vital home for the world's most diverse ecologies.

As visitors descend the Ramp of Life, they are offered tantalizing glimpses into the subsequent gallery spaces.