- Imprint: Penguin
- ISBN: 9781802063837
- Length: 320 pages
- Price: £10.99
Nature's Memory
Behind the Scenes at the World’s Natural History Museums
Claire Browning, NatureEngaging, a timely reminder... Ashby has expertly navigated challenging topics and suggested clear and actionable solutions. In our current age of extinction, natural history museums can be powerful catalysts for change, spaces for honest narratives, and places where science meets society. Nature’s Memory makes a thoughtful, readable and urgent case for why that matters
Chris Stokel Walker, New ScientistCompelling, arresting... Reality bites, as Ashby deftly shows in this engaging book, which persuasively casts a critical eye over the imperfections of museums and how they aren't what we have often thought them to be
Thomas HallidayVery engaging, well researched and wide-ranging, Ashby knows more about this topic than anyone. He makes you look at museums in a different way, seeing the stories and choices beneath the surface of the displays
Miranda Lowe CBE, Principle Curator at the Natural History MuseumTruly an accessible and memorable read for the naturally curious! Each page opens up the world of museums for all, as Ashby takes us through a wealth of insights on museum objects, specimens and stories. This book makes the unseen seen
Erica McAlister, author of The Secret Life of FliesThis book is like many a museum – full of wonder and intrigue. Ashby opens the doors to their inner workings, telling us how they developed and how they are developing. Some of the stories are frustrating, others fantastical, some may even make you laugh (honestly who knew that about the Penguins) but all are thought-provoking
About Jack Ashby
Jack Ashby is the Assistant Director of the University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge, an honorary research fellow in the Department of Science and Technology Studies at University College London, and the President of the Society for the History of Natural History. He is the author of Platypus Matters: The Extraordinary Story of Australian Mammals and Animal Kingdom: A Natural History in 100 Objects, and winner of the Zoological Society of London’s award for communicating zoology. He lives in Hertfordshire.
Details
All editions
- Hardback 2025
- Paperback 2026