Science for the Nation Perspectives on the History of the Science Museum

by Morris, Peter

• ISBN13: 9780230230095
• ISBN10: 0230230091
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-05-15
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

A engaging history of the British Science Museum, produced to mark the centenary of its separation from the Victoria & Albert Museum in 1909. Rather than simply a narrative history, it uses the key themes of the Science Museums evolution to explore major issues and tensions common to the development of all science and technology museums.

Author Biography

Peter Morris is Principal Curator of Science at the Science Museum and Head of Research across the NMSI family of museums. He has published widely on the history of chemistry and the chemical industry and is currently completing a history of synthetic rubber in Germany. Morris is also editor of the leading history of chemistry journal, Ambix. He was given the Edelstein Award for excellence in the history of chemistry by the American Chemical Society in 2006.

Table of Contents

List of Tables	p. ix
List of Illustrations	p. x
List of Graphs	p. xii
List of Plates	p. xiii
Acknowledgements	p. xiv
Foreword	p. xv
Notes on Contributors	p. xvii
Notes on Sources and Conventions	p. xx
Introduction	p. 1
Infected by the Bacillus of Science: The Explosion of South Kensington	p. 11
The First Years: The Science Museum at War and Peace	p. 41
The Science Museum and the Second World War	p. 61
Ambition and Anxiety: The Science Museum, 1950-1983	p. 90
Parallax Error? A Participant's Account of the Science Museum, c. 1980-c.2000	p. 111
Waves of Change: How the Science Museum's Library Rose, Fell and Rose Again	p. 136
'A Worthy and Suitable House': The Science Museum Buildings and the Temporality of Space	p. 157
Exhibiting Science: Changing Conceptions of Science Museum Display	p. 176
Beyond the Children's Gallery: The Influence of Children on the Development of the Science Museum	p. 210
'An Effective Organ of Public Enlightenment': The Role of Temporary Exhibitions in the Science Museum	p. 228
Collecting for the Science Museum: Constructing the Collections, the Culture and the Institution	p. 266
Behind the Scenes: Housing the Collections	p. 289
The International Context and the Context of Internationalism	p. 310
Afterword A Speech made at the Dinner to Celebrate the Centenary of the Science Museum on 11 June 2009	p. 328
Temporary (Special) Exhibitions, 1912-1983	p. 333
Table of Senior Staff at the Science Museum, 1893-2000	p. 340
Visitor Figures for the Science Museum, 1909-2008	p. 345
Index	p. 349
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