A former palaeontologist himself at the museum, Fortey provides both a tour of the hidden galleries and collections of the Natural History Museum as well as a gossip-filled portrait of the many eccentrics, loners and geniuses who have worked there. Whilst acknowledging and embracing the changing role of the institution, he still makes the case for the less obviously commercial but still vital scientific endeavours driven by these misfits in their isolated, Ghormenghast-like galleries.
(Clive Yelf - bwl 73 Summer 2014 ) |
