Customer Reviews

A Gathering of Wonders

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This is a very interesting book, especially if, as most New Yorkers, the book's author included, you spent a lot of time at the Natural History Museum as a kid. Who would know of all the goings on there over the decades if someone didn't take the time to research it and get it all out there for you? The best thing about the book it that its an easy read-- nothing is dived into too deeply and the book moves fairly quickly from one story to another, each very different. The museum obviously must have many stories; for instance I noticed there was no reference to the famous Vladimir Nabokov who worked there, and the scientists at AMNH who finished his fascinating work on butterflies-- told in an entire, intriguing, book "Nabokov's Blues" only this year. But there are good sections on other celebrities connected to the museum, Margaret Mead, Roy Chapman Andrews etc. and many more recent or, accept to scientists, more obscure scientists and explorers. Thus, the book appears to have been somewhat selective in its topics, but a big history undoubtedly dictated this. Another good thing about the book its that it weds themes to stories; you get your share of conservation and other required awarenesses here. If the Natural History museum has always fascinated you, you'll enjoy this book. Re the museums history, keep in mind the Nabokov's Blues story above and, for kids, the writings for youth done by Roy Chapman Andrews-- Quest in the Desert; Quest for the Snow Leopard. These are classics and also full of memorabilia about the museum.