The educational role of the museum

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James Francis Wilkins

The Queen of England and her pet corgi Mr. Brown enjoy a day at London's Natural History Museum where they visit the dinosaur fossils, but they fall asleep before the real excitement begins.

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Stella V. F. Butler

This book is a detailed review of the treatment of science and technology in museums. It discusses the nature of science and its cultural standing at the end of the twentieth century as well as the history of science museums in Europe and North America and the effects upon them of the heritage phenomenon. It also includes much of strictly practical interest: it reviews and compares the very best of modern practice in San Francisco and Toronto, in London, Paris and Berlin; it discusses the technical problems of displaying working machinery and of interpreting unfamiliar and difficult concepts for the public; it explains the principal approaches to collection management and draws lessons from all over the world to compile a thorough appraisal of the effects of the new market-orientated, consumer-led philosophy on the content and practices of science museums.

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introduction by Antonio Paolucci

"This volume devoted to the Great Museums of Europe illustrates eight emblematic museums which, however specific and diverse their collections may be, all hark back to a shared root in the idea of representing in a microcosm the path of development of human culture. Beginning from the earliest example of encyclopaedic collections, specifically those of the Vatican Museums, which originated with the display of classical sculpture in the Belvedere Courtyard at the behest of Pope Julius II, and continuing on to the Russian Imperial Collections displayed in the citadel of the palace of the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg, as well as the Hapsburg Collections, later assembled in the Kunsthistorisches Museum of Vienna and the Bourbon Collections now housed in the Museo del Prado in Madrid; from the Napoleonic dream of the Universal Museum to the present-day structure of the Louvre in Paris, as well as its counterpart, the British Museum in London, founded to accommodate the marble sculptures from the Parthenon that Lord Elgin brought back from Athens. And finally, the ambition to create a citadel of culture, a new Acropolis of universal knowledge, was fully present in the Prussian museum system built on the Museumsinsel in Berlin and, on a smaller scale, in the Rijksmuseum of Amsterdam." "Each of the eight chapters recounts the history of the individual museum, the creation and transformation of the individual collections, illustrated with a spectacular array of photographs and specific, thorough captions, that provide, as it were, a second and easy-to-follow path through the rooms and the masterpieces that make up the history of human culture."--Jacket.

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Traute M. Marshall

"While most people are familiar with the Museum of Fine Arts and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, few are aware of the scores of other wonderful museums throughout New England. From the Colby College Museum of Art to the Museum of Russian Icons and the National Museum of American Illustration, the cradle of American art is home to a dazzling abundance of cultural opportunities." "Traute M. Marshall has written this smart and engagingly personal guidebook for curious travelers, bringing to light the wealth of small and large art museums in the six New England states, ranging from world-class encyclopedic collections to more modest and specialized venues. While providing the information found in a traditional guidebook - addresses, websites, opening times, directions, and so forth - Marshall also offers readers informed and intimate introductions to the museums and their histories, holdings, traditions, and architecture. This guide also explains exhibition practices, the presentation of the permanent collection versus the attraction of temporary shows, the different educational activities offered, and the special relationship between a town or city and its art museum." "Each entry concludes with a special "PLUS" section designed to further enrich any visit. This might point you to other types of museums nearby, an architecturally distinctive building in the neighborhood, the home of a famous local artist, or other sites such as artist colonies or distinguished galleries, historic inns or restaurants, or even movies with some connection to the locale. Useful as both a resource for planning your next road trip and an essential glove- compartment companion, Art Museums PLUS is a must-have for New England natives and tourists alike."--BOOK JACKET.