Over the years several individuals and various groups have attempted to reconstruct Noah's Ark, either at full or partial scale. Most efforts were halted in the planning stage or in the fund-raising stage, but some have actually been completed. Some were proposed as creation museums or evangelistic tools, while others were for-profit tourist attractions.

Scientists of the early sixteenth century faced a dilemma: how did fossils originate? Tradition had held for centuries that the existence of marine shells on hilltops was due to the Genesis Flood.