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
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Page 8
... famous anatomist Sir Richard 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 ...
... famous anatomist Sir Richard 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 ...
Page 9
... famous collection , including some specimens that are the basis of a fossil species name . One of the ichthyosaurs probably died in the process of giving birth to live young , although few visitors notice the label explaining this ...
... famous collection , including some specimens that are the basis of a fossil species name . One of the ichthyosaurs probably died in the process of giving birth to live young , although few visitors notice the label explaining this ...
Page 14
... famous original of the Juras- sic bird Archaeopteryx or the exquisitely preserved fossils of Cretaceous fishes from Brazil . But that is not why we have museums with collec- tions of natural history specimens . A few scraps of bone can ...
... famous original of the Juras- sic bird Archaeopteryx or the exquisitely preserved fossils of Cretaceous fishes from Brazil . But that is not why we have museums with collec- tions of natural history specimens . A few scraps of bone can ...
Page 24
... famous tree there is another of those locked doors . By now I knew what to expect . Behind the door there would be a further secret domain , and so it proved . This was the portal to the Herbarium , centre of the Department of Botany ...
... famous tree there is another of those locked doors . By now I knew what to expect . Behind the door there would be a further secret domain , and so it proved . This was the portal to the Herbarium , centre of the Department of Botany ...
Page 31
... famous scientists in the world . Thirty years ago I was a pipe smoker , and the study cubicles in the National Museum of Natural His- tory in the Smithsonian allowed scholars to puff away at their pipes while looking down the microscope ...
... famous scientists in the world . Thirty years ago I was a pipe smoker , and the study cubicles in the National Museum of Natural His- tory in the Smithsonian allowed scholars to puff away at their pipes while looking down the microscope ...
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