Nature's Museums: Victorian Science and the Architecture of Display

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Scientists in the medieval and early-modern eras faced many obstacles to sharing their discoveries, among them the lack of organized, comparative collections of specimens. Such assemblages were almost exclusively in the hands of wealthy individuals, and scholars of more modest means had to content themselves with "cabinets of wonder," potpourris of natural curiosities whose message was often no more profound than "behold, death is near."

One of the signal developments of the Victorian era, observes art historian Carla Yanni, was the building of great museums, accessible to both scholars and the interested public, to house large collections of fossils, minerals, and other relics of the natural world. Some of these museums, such as London's Pantherion, offered astonishing and sometimes fictitious spectacles: in the Pantherion, for example, "stuffed animals were staged in frightening battles," while a great artificial swamp filled with sculptures of dinosaurs ringed the Sydenham Crystal Palace. Others, such as the incomparable Natural History Museum of London, became clearinghouses for the exchange of scientific ideas in the age of Darwin and Huxley. By the 1880s, science museums of all kinds had become popular destinations for family outings, and also the subject of considerable debate, with some scholars objecting to the supposed vulgarization of knowledge to which spectacles inevitably led.

But, Yanni notes, in their many forms, these museums also became the "primary places of interaction between natural science and its diverse publics," allowing greater participation in learning and ultimately serving science well. Heavily illustrated with period engravings and architectural renderings, Yanni's book is a useful and entertaining contribution to the history of science. --Gregory McNamee

Book Description

"Museums produced natural knowledge and were themselves architectural spectacles," writes Carla Yanni. "As such, they comprise a rich cultural site suggestive of interdisciplinary historical study." In Nature's Museums, Yanni brings together the history of architecture and history of science in an engaging study of how the Victorians approached the housing and display of scientific artifacts.

Focusing on the Oxford University Museum, the Edinburgh Museum of Science and Art, and the Natural History Museum of London, Yanni explores how such institutions reflected varying, often contradictory concepts of nature -- from the handiwork of God to a resource to be exploited. She explains how the rise of museums accompanied and influenced the transformation of science from a "gentleman's hobby" to a paying profession. And she shows how the buildings themselves remain invaluable guides to the Victorians' ambiguous perception of the natural world. Through careful social and historical accounts of the buildings, their displays, and their reception, Yanni's work deepens our understanding of the emerging power of museums in Darwin's century.

"Piled high with bones and stuffed animals, natural history museums were the primary places of interaction between natural science and its diverse publics. Studies of the natural world (what we now think of as biology and geology) were changing and conflicted disciplines, and thus no single vision of nature emerged in the Victorian period. Consequently, architects could not devise any one distinctive building type... Nature's Museums analyzes how the architecture of selected natural history museums in Britain contributed to the legitimization of knowledge." -- from Nature's Museums

Customer Reviews:

GOOD NOT GREAT.......2006-08-01

see title

SERIOUSLY, FOR ALL THAT TIME AND ALL THAT FILM I THINK IT ISN'T THIS PHOTOGRAPHER'S BEST, ALTHOUGH IT'S PRETTY DAMN GOOD

contemporary classic of color street work.......2006-07-24

this work is about light, color, composition, and one of the most interesting and mysterious places left on the planet. webb has winded his way through his now familiar terrain in central and south america, and produced one of the finest books of our time.

BUYER BEWARE!.......2003-06-14

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This is not a nature book!

Please note that for all intents and purposes there is not a single nature photograph in this entire collection!
There are only two and with little photographic value.
One on the first page and one on the last page.

There is not one picture of either animal, insect or plant.

As a photographer myself, I consider the pictures ok but not great(the people who live along the Amazon). Not worth the effort and expense of a journey along the great Amazon for such meagre photography.

And as I recall there are no photgraphs of any indeginous peoples
along the Amazon either(very dissapointing).

This is also an old book and the photographic print quality is not comparable to what might be published today.

Beautiful Book.......2001-01-09

I showed this book to one of my photography instructors at the college I attend and we discussed how wonderful the use of color and composition is in Alex Webb's photography. He is an extremely insightful photographer. Many of the photos are so skillfully composed that they are almost like two or three photographs in one. This book is filled with "decisive moments" - similiar to Cartier-Bresson's approach to photography - but in beautiful color.

I'll never look at color photography in the same way after having seen Mr. Webb's work. I learned things from this book. And I am proud to own it.

A sensitive photographer with a great eye.......2000-02-10

Mr. Webb's images reflect a sensitive photographer, a thinking photographer with a great eye. His graphic approach to documentary photography adds a wonderful artistic quality to the images.

The images bring me to the Amazon, the real Amazon with its beauty, danger, ugliness, etc.-- not the romanticized Amazon of just beautiful sceneries.

Book Description

This book is a guide to the key elements of successful fund raising, explaining the profession's major principles, concepts, and techniques.

Customer Reviews:

A must read for everyone involved in fund raising.......1999-09-25

The late Henry Rosso, one of fund raising's all time great teachers and practitioners, gets to the heart and soul of fund raising as he clearly presents the basic techniques. His love for philanthropy and his respect and admiration for donors is infectious.

Very good. Inspiring and practical guide for set up........1999-05-26

Rosso and Associates have created a book to inspire those who find themselves in a relatively undefined fundraising position. The book provides a conceptual framework from which to view fundraising as, aside from the mission, the most vital aspect of a not-for-profit organisation. You can approach this book from an absolute beginner level or from an experienced fundraising background looking for a little inspiration and back-up. The book is, understandably, quite grounded in American law and culture so its direct application to other countries is limited.

Book Description

Home ownership is at an all-time high, driven largely by first-time buyers--many of whom never thought they'd own a home. But more daunting than buying a home is maintaining it and meeting payment obligations. Welcome to the world of property taxes, insurance, credit usage, and home improvements! The Nehemiah Corporation, a charitable housing organization, and journalists Barbara B. Buchholz and Martha Crane guide new homeowners through all the decisions and challenges that await behind the doors of their new home. Not only do homebuyers learn everything they need to know and do, but how to do it on a shoestring budget.

Customer Reviews:

not as useful as I hoped.......2001-11-28

I really wanted a more hands-on guide to everything about your first home, & this is too vague & lacking relevant details. It's a decent overview of broad, general topics new homeowner's should consider, but it's not the kind of reference book I'll use over & over.

A money saving, anxiety-reducing manual.......2001-02-17

The New Homeowner's Handbook is a money saving, anxiety-reducing manual on what to do after you have moved into a new residence. Barbara Bucholz and Margaret Crane collaborated with the Nehemiah Corporation to write this helpful compendium of hints and tips for homeowners on balancing a budget, stretching finances, decorating inexpensively, saving money on do-it-yourself home repairs, managing taxes, dealing with insurance, as well as maintaining a home in good shape for maximum value, comfort and livability. The New Homeowner's Handbook is a "must" for anyone wanting to get the most out of one of live's largest financial and emotional investments -- their home!

Great.......2000-10-13

I'm a realtor and this is an excellent first time homeowners book. It tells it like it is. Buying a home is more then signing papers, that is only the beginning. Buy this book!

Book Description

Ages 8-12.

Book Description

Why did the Soviet Union use less force to preserve the Soviet empire from 1989 to 1991 than it had used in distant and impoverished Angola in 1975? This book fills a key gap in international relations theories by examining how actors' preferences and causal conceptions change as they learn from their experiences.

Andrew Bennett draws on interviews and declassified Politburo documents as well as numerous public statements to establish the views of Soviet and Russian officials. He argues that Soviet leaders drew lessons from their apparent successes in Vietnam and elsewhere in the 1970s that made them more interventionist. Then, as casualties in Afghanistan mounted in the 1980s, Soviet leaders learned different lessons that led them to withdraw from regional conflicts and even to abstain from the use of force as the Soviet empire dissolved. The loss of this empire led to exaggerated fears of "domino effects" within Russia and a resurgence of interventionist views, culminating in the Russian invasion of Chechnya in 1994. Throughout this process, Soviet and Russian leaders and policy experts were divided into competing schools of thought as much by the information to which they were exposed as by their apparent material interests. This helps explain how Gorbachev and other new thinkers were able to prevail over the powerful military-party-industrial complex that had dominated Soviet politics since Stalin's time.

Not Condemned To Repetition: The United States And Nicaragua, Second Edition

Average customer rating:

Not Condemned To Repetition: The United States And Nicaragua, Second Edition
Robert Pastor
Manufacturer: Westview Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0813338107

Book Description

Through the fall of Anastasio Somoza, the rise of the Sandinistas, and the contra war, the United States and Nicaragua seemed destined to repeat the mistakes made by the U.S. and Cuba forty years before. The 1990 election in Nicaragua broke the pattern. Robert Pastor was a major US policymaker in the critical period leading up to and following the Sandinista Revolution of 1979. A decade later after writing the first edition of this book, he organized the International Mission led by Jimmy Carter that mediated the first free election in Nicaragua's history. From his unique vantage point, and utilizing a wealth of original material from classified government documents and from personal interviews with U.S. and Nicaraguan leaders, Pastor shows how Nicaragua and the United States were prisoners of a tragic history and how they finally escaped. This revised and updated edition covers the events of the democratic transition, and it extracts the lessons to be learned from the past.

Condemned to Repetition: The United States and Nicaragua

Average customer rating:

Condemned to Repetition: The United States and Nicaragua
Robert A. Pastor
Manufacturer: Princeton Univ Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

CONDEMNED TO REPETITION? The Rise, Fall, And Reprise Of Soviet-Russian Military Intervention, 1973 -1996

Average customer rating:

CONDEMNED TO REPETITION? The Rise, Fall, And Reprise Of Soviet-Russian Military Intervention, 1973 -1996
Andrew Bennett
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OQXM78

Average customer rating:

Condemned to Repetition?
Andrew Bennett
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OQL3JM

Average customer rating:

National Geographic Field Guide

Exceptional Pictures

National Geographic Field Guide to Birds: Washington/Oregon (NG Field Guide to Birds)

Manufacturer: National Geographic
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Birdwatching | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
Ornithology | Zoology | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Birds of Washington State

Birds of Oregon Field Guide (Field Guides)

Birds of Washington Field Guide (Field Guides)

Birds of Seattle and Puget Sound (City Bird Guides)

Birding Oregon: 44 Prime Birding Areas with More Than 200 Specific Sites (Falcon Guide)

ASIN: 0792253132
Release Date: 2006-03-21

Book Description

Featuring as many as 175 birds apiece and nearly 300 photographs, illustrations and maps, this handy, informative book adds two Pacific Northwestern states to National Geographic's growing series of field guides. Like its predecessors, this guide provides birders with quick and easy access to the kind of specific facts and savvy advice that they need: a regional map of birding hotspots; a knowledgeable introduction by a local expert on which birds to look for, where to find them, and what to focus on when they appear; a section on birding basics, field identification, and how to make the best use of the guide and its resources; scores of individual entries with photographs of each bird, recognition tips, and notes on behavior, habitat, and particular sites; and two indexes: one color-coded, the other alphabetical with life list boxes. An ideal solution for visitors looking to make the most of limited time and a valuable reference for anyone who lives in the region, these books belong in every birder's library, beginner and veteran alike.

Washington & Oregon: a diverse mix of coastal, mountain, forest, and plains species make the Northwest a birder's paradise whose avian highlights include the elusive Blue Grouse, the colorful, shore-dwelling Rhinoceros Auklet, the dramatic and powerful Canada Goose, and the Tufted Puffin, among many others.

Customer Reviews:

National Geographic Field Guide.......2007-10-12

Good book, but not my favorite. I have other guides I use more. I have 3 field guides including this book, so I have a varity of pictures to compare with.

Exceptional Pictures.......2007-02-17

This book is small enough to fit easily into my case with my binoculars and my camera, yet comprehensive enough to help me identify many birds. The photographs are exceptionally clear and detailed.

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