A richly illustrated tour of Minnesota's premier natural history museum after 150 years From its humble start in 1872 as a one-room cabinet of curiosities, the University of Minnesota's Bell Museum of natural history has grown to be one of the state's most important cultural institutions. Within its walls are displayed the natural wonders of Minnesota and the world beyond, a standing invitation to explore, understand, and appreciate our natural environment--and, for visitors of all ages, both seasoned observers and curious onlookers, to experience the delight of discovery. A Natural Curiosity is a tale well told, a lively ride across 150 years of important scientific advancement. Drawing on a wealth of materials unearthed during the museum's recent move to its new building, this gorgeously illustrated book chronicles the remarkable discoveries, moments, and personalities that have made the Bell Museum what it is today. Among the stories of ornithologists, botanists, tycoons, and conservationists, readers will encounter the magnificent dioramas created by renowned artist Francis Lee Jaques, the adventures behind some of the Bell's more curious specimens (like the bones of Philippine orangutans and moonrats, a high-flying moose, and a simple fungi sample that saved a man's life), and the dramatic accounts of the critical advances made by the museum in wildlife telemetry, conservation biology, and scientific learning--all in defense of our planet's threatened biodiversity. In a photographic finale, readers will be treated to a tour of the new, reimagined museum, complete with the planetarium that inspired one Minnesota boy to become a NASA astronaut. From its conception as part of a state-mandated geological and natural history survey, to its most recent ventures into technology, environmental science, and DNA sequencing, the Bell Museum has informed, explained, and expanded our relationship to the natural world. Its story, engagingly told in A Natural Curiosity, reveals and explores the profound changes undergone by society, science, and the natural landscape over the museum's lifetime.
Tracing events from the pre-history to the present day, this book offers a concise and accessible history of the American West. Explores the complex interactions between and among cultures in the American West Chronologically organized and informed by the latest scholarship Grounded in attention to race, class, gender, and the environment, the text focuses on social, economic, and political forces that shaped the lived experiences of diverse westerners and influenced the patterns of western history.
Ten years ago, Bill Lansing decided to commemorate his memories of growing up on a small ranch in northern California. Like most baby boomers, not much was ever relayed about their parents history. So he decided to remedy that for his future descendants. The book starts out with his parents courtship in 1920s and connects the narrative memories from 1946 with personal photos in a chronological manner until 1969. Many of the stories are funny, as Bill writes with passion and humor. The title comes from three general sources: growing up with horses, beginning at age six; hating the bandy chickens his mother coveted; and Bills passion for baseball. These three topics anchor the flow of the book.
The Ocean House, a Victorian grand hotel in Watch Hill, Rhode Island, has a collection of over 250 original works of art including illustration art and paintings by Ludwig Bemelmans, Garrett Price, James Montgomery Flagg, Konstantin Rudakov, Leon Bakst, Oscar Fabrés, Jessie Gillespie and many others. Over fifty of the celebrity self-portraits collected by Burt Britton are here, including Herbie Hancock, Gloria Steinem and Tom Wolfe. There is also a large group of fashion studies done in Manchester, Vermont in the 1890s. This catalog reproduces all in color, with essays, notes and bibliography.
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