[NHCOLL-L:3684] Re: Stuffed Animals & Pickled Heads

[John E Simmons]

Chris,
It is a good book and a fun read.  Among other things, the author examines
exhibits designed by some famous scientists as a way of seeing how they put
their concepts of classification into practice.  The only serious criticism
I have of the book is that the author didn't seem to understand the impact
that genetics had on natural history, but that oversight does not affect the
validity of his thesis.  It is definitely a book that is well worth reading
if you are interested in the history of natural history.  An interesting
follow-up book is Steven Cohn's "Museums and American Intellectual Life"
that addresses the shift of the discovery of knowledge from museums to
universities.

--John

John E. Simmons
Museologica
1528 ½ Puddintown Road
State College, Pennsylvania 16801
simmons.johne at gmail.com
303-681-5708

On Jan 2, 2008 6:27 PM, Del Re, Christine <delre at mpm.edu> wrote:

>  Dear Colleagues,
>
> I would appreciate positive or negative feedback about the book with the
> above title before I plunge in.  Any thoughts?
>
> many thanks in advance, Chris Del Re/MPM
>



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