There's nothing like a hard-fought political season to make one nostalgic for the kind of old-fashioned poop that doesn't make us ashamed of humanity.

It was during the height of the acrimonious exchange between Democratic primary rivals Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton last month that I decided to take an afternoon sabbatical from politics.

By prior arrangement, I made my way to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Oakland for a sneak preview of an exhibit before it opened later that week.

One floor away and several hundred million years removed from the Carnegie's celebrated dinosaur exhibit was "The Scoop on Poop! The Science of What Animals Leave Behind."

If God has a thousand names according to Hindu scripture, then the byproduct of excretory forces we call "poop" has 10,000 names in every language and culture.

Many of the least scatological in English are listed on a wall display. Despite the validation that comes with being featured in a Carnegie Museum exhibit, don't be surprised if you find yourself struggling hard with your inner 10-year-old trying to resist nature's call to laugh. How can you not guffaw at the various names of poop on display?:

Smart pills, berries, doo-doo, kaka, loaf chips, butt pies, nuggets, muck, flops, sheep dip, manure, field raisins, cow slip, number two, guano, meadow muffins, fly specks and frisbees are but a few of the names used to avoid the indignity of saying "poop" in polite company.

The traveling exhibit based on the book of the same name by Dr. Wayne Lynch features three-dimensional models, large graphic panels illustrating the history, uses and mechanics of poop, interactive technologies that give you a whiff and very little incentive to keep a straight face.

Perhaps it's a sign of my immaturity that I laughed at practically every stop along the way. I don't think I smiled once at the brilliant dinosaur exhibit one floor below.

Psychologically, it's hard to laugh at dinosaurs knowing that had we co-existed with those "terrible lizards," the meat eaters among them would have made poop of the entire human race eventually.

That's why we stand before their gigantic fossils, now posed in anatomically correct positions at the Carnegie Museum, in awe and wonder. There's even something majestic about the 80-million-year-old fossilized dung that visitors are invited to touch as part of "The Scoop on Poop!" exhibit.

The exhibit also demystifies the taboo of waste by figuratively rubbing our faces in it. It was fascinating to learn that humans have historically used animal dung as fuel and home insulation in India, South America and the African plains.

Today, the Maasai and Samburu people of East Africa build huts made entirely of cattle dung.

Scientists believe waste left behind by migrating animals crossing the frozen land bridge between Asia and the Americas 13,000 years ago provided fuel for humans making the trek into the unknown of a new hemisphere.

Innovative uses for poop didn't stop at the end of the Ice Age. According to the exhibit, an English inventor figured out a way to power a car using only methane in the 1970s. In Iowa, poop is one of several alternative energy sources used to generate electricity. Elephant droppings have even been used in contemporary art.

Still, as interesting as animal trivia and science is -- did you know that no land animal poops more than elephants? -- I wish there was more in the show about the history of human, um, bowel movement and the place it has played in the formation of our attitudes regarding shame and civic morality.

Perhaps the good folks at Peeling (with an "L") Productions, the folks who run the reptile and amphibian zoo near Williamsport, Union County, and who put the exhibit together, will eventually supplement it with more facts about the fascinating bathroom activities of humans.

After experiencing "The Scoop on Poop" for one afternoon in January, I was able to return to thinking about politics with a renewed appreciation for where all of it ultimately comes from.

"The Scoop on Poop" exhibit will be at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History until May 4. Visit www.CarnegieMNH.org for information about lectures, fees and times.