Review of 'Dry Store Room No. 1: The Secret Life of the Natural History Museum' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Fortey is not only a reasonable writer in that he can tell a good story, he also has some important things to say gleaned from his whole career and the British Natural History Museum. He uses this book to say those things, but doesn't quite fall into the preachy area.
While Fortey's line of work is arthropod paleontology, he roams and roves through the Museum as a whole, including plants, minerals, and fungi. Much of the book is telling about his co-workers over the years, and he includes the great work they've done, some of the gaffes that have happened, and other various stories. Fortey just touches on the Museum's Directors taking the stance that the real important work is done by - amazing, this - the workers.
The ending quarter of the book, in some ways, is taken up with an interesting personal overview of how the British Museum …
Fortey is not only a reasonable writer in that he can tell a good story, he also has some important things to say gleaned from his whole career and the British Natural History Museum. He uses this book to say those things, but doesn't quite fall into the preachy area.
While Fortey's line of work is arthropod paleontology, he roams and roves through the Museum as a whole, including plants, minerals, and fungi. Much of the book is telling about his co-workers over the years, and he includes the great work they've done, some of the gaffes that have happened, and other various stories. Fortey just touches on the Museum's Directors taking the stance that the real important work is done by - amazing, this - the workers.
The ending quarter of the book, in some ways, is taken up with an interesting personal overview of how the British Museum has changed over his career. It has moved from the scientists being the most important elements to the marketers and PR people. It has moved from having people available to study their subjects in absolute depth - and he gives stories about the good that can happen for all of us when people are allowed to do that - to people being let go and not replaced because the bean counters don't see what they're doing as worth anything. Fortey stops short of really decrying this situation. I won't.
Through it all, one thing is clear: Fortey thought the world of the mission of the Museum and its scientific workers. He notes that many of the scientists still work at the Museum gratis after their official retirement because they love the work, and its not done yet.
Would that we all worked in such places and with such people.