Treasures of the Natural History Museum

Description

The Natural History Museum, London is home to one of the world's mostimportant and comprehensive collections of natural history specimens, literatureand artworks. This book is a celebration of over 200 of the Museum's most exceptionalpossessions including world-famous specimens and little-known curiosities. The treasures are selected both from objects on display and those stored behindthe scenes. Each one is chosen for its scientific importance, striking beauty orintriguing story - and sometimes all three. Among the many exceptional natural wonders featured are: a rare meteoritefrom Mars; Darwin's celebrated finch specimens; a lethal claw from the dinosaurBaryonyx; one of the first forms of life on Earth; and some immaculately dressedfleas. The book also includes the magnificent Museum building itself with itsmany architectural treasures. With intriguing stories behind each entry, Treasures of the Natural HistoryMuseum is a fascinating insight into the best of the Museum's unrivalledcollections.

With more than 70 million specimens, the Museum is home to the largest and most important natural history collections in the world.The scope of the specimens is simply vast including the ill-fated dodo, meteorites from Mars and a full-size blue whale skeleton. The collections cover almost all groups of animals, plants, minerals and fossils ranging from cells on slides to whole animals preserved in alcohol.The Library of the Museum is a repository for the largest collection of natural history literature in the world. It holds half a million artworks, comprising one of Britain's biggest art collections, and over one million books, including rare, richly illustrated antique volumes.