Abstract

"George Brown Goode, a nineteenth-century curator and administrator of what would become the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, formulated much of the basis for the science museum system, from broad theoretical issues down to the details of acquisition. This book collects five of Goode's most enduring essays on the history of science and museum practice in America." "The book opens with a substantive introduction in the form of a biographical essay of Goode by Sally Gregory Kohlstedt, a professor of the history of science. The first of Goode's essays follows: an overview of the development of the natural and, to a lesser extent, physical sciences in America, from colonial times through the late nineteenth century. Through this and the four additional essays, Goode urged the scientific community to preserve a comprehensive and collaborative approach to natural history. He was among the first to establish the concept of a tripartite mission for museums--to act as centers for collection-based research, to educate visitors, and to maintain exhibitions. He believed that in order to understand scientific exhibitions, visitors must be shown historical processes. Science was to be presented within the context of scientific history, a level of information woefully absent from many present-day exhibitions." "With virtually no historical studies focusing on American science available to guide him, George Brown Goode was determined to compile his own history of natural science. This book brings back into circulation, with the new introduction as well as photographs of thirty naturalists, five essays of lasting relevance to historians, museum professionals, and students of natural history. The Subject Index and Guide to Full Names, Institutions, and Titles provided by Dr. Kohlstedt as a finding list to persons, corporate entities, and works adds a long-sought tool for scholarly research and historical studies."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved.