by Steven T. Asma
ISBN: 0195163362
The proper term for the screech owls, elephants, or plain old rodents on view in museum displays is a mount. Stuffed animals, well, that is not cool with the curators. The stuffed animals, those are more like the hundreds of multicolored birds stashed away in drawers in the back rooms, bags of skin and feathers. Realistic depictions of animals involves creating an internal infrastructure, so they will look lifelike, anatomically accurate.
As for pickled heads, though, those were just pickled. The miracle of “wet preps” turned out to be alcohol.
If reading the phrase “wet preps” repeatedly wouldn’t put you off, and if you are a bit interested in the intersection of evolution and museum displays, or want an overview of how natural history museum displays are created, this book is probably for you.
Asma is best when he is indulging in his own curiosity, writing about flesh-eating beetles and the Hunterian Museum. He is much less compelling when he is playing “humanities scholar explains science” and belaboring that creationism is, scientifically speaking, specious. I wish he had spent that energy digging deeper with bias reflected in dioramas, or asking why you don’t see “wet preps” too much anymore.
Asma has written an interesting overview of the history of national science museums, with curious tidbits on human dissection laws and what can be learned from scooping up dead birds in a park. Look for this one in the library.
