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sevenlefts's review against another edition
4.0
Kind of read this on a whim, but I'm very glad I did. I spent a college semester in London back in the 80s, and although the Natural History Museum was less than a mile from where I lived, and I must have walked by it dozens of times, I never visited it. I have no idea why. Something to do with the priorities of youth, I suppose.
Fortey takes the reader on a anthropological, cultural and historical tour of the museum. He very cleverly does this managing to avoid laundry lists and a systematic department-by-department inventory. And at the same time, the book is all about taxonomy and, well, systematics. All this is he does a fine of job of making a dry subject very palatable.
His take on the cultural shifts in the Museum, moving from the tenured pre-war years of the class-conscious civil service and eccentric scientists toward the more modern grant- and visitor-focused modern era is quite good. His early chapters on taxonomy and systematics are quite entertaining. Even the chapter on mineralogy held my interest.
Much of the book centers on the role of the Natural History Museum in scholarship and the expansion and transmission of human knowledge, especially in th area of identifying the world around us. As he states toward the end of the book, "Ever species on Earth has a story tell. But the first stage will always be the naming of names."
Fortey takes the reader on a anthropological, cultural and historical tour of the museum. He very cleverly does this managing to avoid laundry lists and a systematic department-by-department inventory. And at the same time, the book is all about taxonomy and, well, systematics. All this is he does a fine of job of making a dry subject very palatable.
His take on the cultural shifts in the Museum, moving from the tenured pre-war years of the class-conscious civil service and eccentric scientists toward the more modern grant- and visitor-focused modern era is quite good. His early chapters on taxonomy and systematics are quite entertaining. Even the chapter on mineralogy held my interest.
Much of the book centers on the role of the Natural History Museum in scholarship and the expansion and transmission of human knowledge, especially in th area of identifying the world around us. As he states toward the end of the book, "Ever species on Earth has a story tell. But the first stage will always be the naming of names."
emmaswiththefairies's review against another edition
3.0
Any individual with a basic working knowledge of museums may find parts of this book rather dry. As ever Fortey is engaging and a joy to read. The real charm of this book lies in the formerly untold stories of the scientists themselves and the wisdom imparted to the reader about their organisms of study. It is surprising just how many people have tried (successfully!) in the past to obtain treasures from the museum for themselves.
After reading this book I was hoping to have obtained some profound insight into its hidden treasures, for the entire place to come alive with stories and for me to feel as though I was part of the Dry Store Room 1 club. Sadly no. Next time I step foot into the Natural History Museum I will enter with all the wonder and excitement as I have done on previous visits but alas with not as many additional pearls of wisdom from this book as I had hoped.
After reading this book I was hoping to have obtained some profound insight into its hidden treasures, for the entire place to come alive with stories and for me to feel as though I was part of the Dry Store Room 1 club. Sadly no. Next time I step foot into the Natural History Museum I will enter with all the wonder and excitement as I have done on previous visits but alas with not as many additional pearls of wisdom from this book as I had hoped.
nuthatch's review
4.0
This is an interesting and sometimes funny look behind the scenes at the Natural History Museum in London. Many of the people who have worked and done research at the museum are stranger than the specimens stored in the collection. The author highlights the important work done by museums that few visitors are aware of.
nickystrickland's review against another edition
4.0
I read this around my studies and was great to be able to dip in and out.
ikahime's review against another edition
2.0
Dear lord, I couldn't make it past the 3rd chapter. I felt as though I was reading an old Victorian account of skullduggery instead of a modern memoir published in 2008. I looked for some videos of Fortey, to give him another chance, but his tale of a magical trilobite was a snoozer at best. At times I could easily imagine the tweed-jacketed author clapping me on the back with a "jolly good ripper, eh sport?" while tugging on his pipeful of Erinmore Mixture and resting his arm on a burgeoning mantle of trilobite fossils while I desperately searched for the exit.
lexmidd's review against another edition
3.0
I didn't actually read all of the book, but it's the kind of book that you don't need to read straight through. It's all about Richard Foley's years of work at the Natural History Museum in London. There are some fascinating stories about Foley's coworkers and the building itself. It made me very very nostalgic for my study abroad days. Oh, London, how I love you.
margeryk101's review against another edition
4.0
This was another surprise read courtesy of Nethertown Book club, and I thoroughly enjoyed its academic if slightly rambling tone.