The need for so many people to collect items, animals and even humans (would someone please stomp on Admiral Peary's grave for a while)! Geez. You wouldn't think people would be so obtuse as to not realize that living, breathing human beings do not belong in museums as specimens of a tribe or culture we do not know. But obviously the wealthy who often did the collecting, or those 'explorers' who put fame and glory above compassion had a problem with understanding basic human rights. And yes, if tribes ask for their ancestors back, the bones should be returned and buried. How would we all feel if someone went and dug up our grandparents and put their skeletons on display without concern for our need to respect them? You don't see museum guys going to dig up white American or English cemetary plots, do you?
Okay, off the soapbox. A fun read, well-written, well-researched. Preston went on to write several books using the museums as a somewhat creepy place, and frankly after reading this and other books, I don't think I'd want to be locked in the American Museum of Natural History. Pretty sure I'd freak out...too much past with too many ghosts attached to it. Besides, this place sounds like a mausoleum. Having just returned from visiting the Mutter Medical Museum in Philly with its assortment of bones, oddly shaped fetuses and a variety of other things like hands floating in some type of suspension fluid showing small pox at its worse...yikes, I don't know how much of this stuff I could take, and I took medical classes in the Morgue!
The history of the museum is fascinating...the fact that we are able to see so little of this makes me yearn to do exploring down in the 'tombs' and hallways in the presence of company and full daylight, thank you.
Karen Sadler,Science Education,University of Pittsburgh