Dry Storeroom No. 1, Issue 1A remarkable behind-the-scenes look at the extraordinary people, meticulous research, and driving passions that make London’s Natural History Museum one of the world’s greatest institutions. In an elegant and illuminating narrative, Richard Fortey takes his readers to a place where only a few privileged scientists, curators, and research specialists have been—the hallowed halls that hold the permanent collection of the Natural History Museum. Replete with fossils, jewels, rare plants, and exotic species, Fortey’s walk through offers an intimate view of many of the premiere scientific accomplishments of the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries. Like looking into the mind of mankind and all the fascinating discoveries, ideas, and accomplishments that reside there, Fortey’s tour is utterly entertaining from first to last. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 23
Page 8
... Owen , by Holman Hunt . He was an old man when he sat for the portrait , and is dressed in a brilliant scarlet robe , beautifully painted to show the glint of satin , indicative of some very superior doctorate . His glittering eyes ...
... Owen , by Holman Hunt . He was an old man when he sat for the portrait , and is dressed in a brilliant scarlet robe , beautifully painted to show the glint of satin , indicative of some very superior doctorate . His glittering eyes ...
Page 9
... Owen's expression as I left the Board Room ? Several weeks later I was offered the job . In view of my youth I was taken on as a Junior Research Fellow , which meant , I think , that if I did not work out I could be politely escorted ...
... Owen's expression as I left the Board Room ? Several weeks later I was offered the job . In view of my youth I was taken on as a Junior Research Fellow , which meant , I think , that if I did not work out I could be politely escorted ...
Page 37
... Owen , he who had looked down upon me during my interview , was the driving force behind setting up an independent place to house natural history collections . He had pre- viously been Superintendent of the Natural History Departments ...
... Owen , he who had looked down upon me during my interview , was the driving force behind setting up an independent place to house natural history collections . He had pre- viously been Superintendent of the Natural History Departments ...
Page 38
... Owen was a brilliant scien- tist and scholar , intensely ambitious , sometimes devious , a British pio- neer in the ... Owen's vision of a natural history museum was as a kind of paean to the Creator , a magnificent tribute to the glory ...
... Owen was a brilliant scien- tist and scholar , intensely ambitious , sometimes devious , a British pio- neer in the ... Owen's vision of a natural history museum was as a kind of paean to the Creator , a magnificent tribute to the glory ...
Page 39
... Owen certainly intended to display in the main hall what he called an " index museum " of the main designs of animals in nature , intended to be a kind of homage to the fecundity and orderliness of the Creator . However , by 1884 , when ...
... Owen certainly intended to display in the main hall what he called an " index museum " of the main designs of animals in nature , intended to be a kind of homage to the fecundity and orderliness of the Creator . However , by 1884 , when ...
Contents
3 | |
31 | |
Old Worlds | 73 |
Animalia | 114 |
Theatre of Plants | 154 |
Multum in parvo | 185 |
Museum Rocks | 220 |
Noahs Ark in Kensington | 257 |
House of the Muses | 292 |
Acknowledgements | 315 |
Further Reading | 317 |
Illustration Credits | 319 |
Index | 325 |
Other editions - View all
Dry Storeroom No. 1: The Secret Life of the Natural History Museum Richard Fortey Limited preview - 2009 |
Dry Storeroom No. 1: The Secret Life of the Natural History Museum Richard Fortey No preview available - 2009 |
Dry Storeroom No. 1: The Secret Life of the Natural History Museum Richard A. Fortey No preview available - 2008 |
Common terms and phrases
ammonites animals Archaeopteryx Baryonyx beetles biodiversity bird bones botanical butterflies cabinets carbonatite catalogue century cichlid cladistic colleagues collections colour curator Darwin Department described diamond diatoms dinosaurs Diplodocus Director discovered discovery door drawers early Earth entomologist Erbenochile evidence evolution evolutionary example expert famous fish floor flowers fossil fungi galleries genes genus geological Gormenghast habitat herbarium human important included insects Keeper kind known label laboratory lichens Linnaean Linnaeus living London look maggots mammal meteorites microscope million mineral Mineralogy molecular Natural History Museum nematodes organisms original Owen Palaeontology parasite Peter Peter Purves Peter Whitehead Photo courtesy PhyloCode Piltdown plants preserved published Richard Owen rocks sample scientific name scientists sequences snail species staff story survive systematic taxonomists taxonomy thing tiny tion tree trilobite truffle Trustees type specimens visitors W. N. P. Barbellion whale winkles Zoology