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Science for the Nation

Perspectives on the History of the Science Museum

  • Book
  • © 2010

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Editors:
  1. Peter J. T. Morris

    1. Science Museum, London, UK

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Table of contents (15 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xxi
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  2. Introduction

    • Peter J. T. Morris
    Pages 1-10

  3. Infected by the Bacillus of Science: The Explosion of South Kensington

    • Robert Bud
    Pages 11-40

  4. The First Years: The Science Museum at War and Peace

    • Tom Scheinfeldt
    Pages 41-60

  5. The Science Museum and the Second World War

    • Thad Parsons III
    Pages 61-89

  6. Ambition and Anxiety: The Science Museum, 1950–1983

    • Scott Anthony
    Pages 90-110

  7. Parallax Error? A Participant’s Account of the Science Museum, c.1980–c.2000

    • Timothy Boon
    Pages 111-135

  8. Waves of Change: How the Science Museum’s Library Rose, Fell and Rose Again

    • Nicholas Wyatt
    Pages 136-156

  9. ‘A Worthy and Suitable House’: The Science Museum Buildings and the Temporality of Space

    • David Rooney
    Pages 157-175

  10. Exhibiting Science: Changing Conceptions of Science Museum Display

    • Andrew Nahum
    Pages 176-193

  11. Beyond the Children’s Gallery: The Influence of Children on the Development of the Science Museum

    • Anna Bunney
    Pages 194-211

  12. ‘An Effective Organ of Public Enlightenment’: The Role of Temporary Exhibitions in the Science Museum

    • Peter J. T. Morris
    Pages 212-249

  13. Collecting for the Science Museum: Constructing the Collections, the Culture and the Institution

    • Robert Bud
    Pages 250-272

  14. Behind the Scenes: Housing the Collections

    • John Liffen
    Pages 273-293

  15. The International Context and the Context of Internationalism

    • Tom Scheinfeldt
    Pages 294-311

  16. Afterword: A Speech made at the Dinner to Celebrate the Centenary of the Science Museum on 11 June 2009 by Professor Chris Rapley CBE, Director of the Science Museum

    • Peter J. T. Morris
    Pages 312-316

  17. Back Matter

    Pages 317-350
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Keywords

About this book

An engaging study of a great national institution. Essays explore the changing roles of museums and the perceived public role of a museum of science and technology. Illuminates the ways in which we think about the collecting and display of objects and the often difficult relations between the state, business and industry, and museum funding.

Reviews

'Science for the Nation is more than a chronological account of the museum's history, fascinating as that story is. It also includes chapters on the museum staff and its library, buildings, collections, exhibitions and visitors...It is also an account of change...It is constantly changing and evolving, much like science itself.' - E & T

'It is an account with something new even for those well-versed in the museum's history.' - Life After the Museum Newsletter

'Successful in commemorating the Science Museum as an internationally important institution [...] It is a fitting and varied testament to the museum's first century and a half.' Richard Dunn, The Journal of BJHS

'...the Science Museum deserves credit for publishing a book that contributes to the study of museology, history of collections and the material culture of science.' Science for the Nation

Editors and Affiliations

  • Science Museum, London, UK

    Peter J. T. Morris

About the editor

SCOTT ANTHONY Research Fellow at the University of Manchester, UK TIMOTHY BOON Chief Curator at the Science Museum, London, UK ROBERT BUD Principal Curator of Medicine, the Science Museum and Visiting Professorial Fellow of History at Queen Mary University of London, UK PETER J. T. MORRIS Principal Curator of Science, the Science Museum, London, UK THAD PARSONS Doctoral Candidate, Oxford University DAVID ROONEY Curator of Transport, the Science Museum, London, UK TOM SCHEINFELDT Managing Director, Center for History and New Media and Research Assistant Professor of History, George Mason University, Virginia, USA NICK WYATT Library Manager, the Science Museum Library, London, UK

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