Nature's Memory

Behind the Scenes at the World’s Natural History Museums

Jack Ashby

$55

Hardback

Forthcoming
Pre-Order now

QTY:

English

Allen Lane
22 July 2025

Museums & museology; Colonialism & imperialism; Mathematics & Sciences; Zoology & animal sciences; The environment; The Earth: natural history general

An affectionate and eye-opening insider's guide to the world's great natural history museums

In Nature's Memory, zoologist Jack Ashby shares hidden stories behind the world's iconic natural history museums, from enormous mounted whale skeletons to cabinets of impossibly tiny insects.

Look closely and all is not as it seems- these museums are not as natural, Ashby shows us, as we might think. Mammals dominate the displays, for example, even though they make up less than 1 percent of species; there are many more male specimens than females; and often a museum's most popular draw - the dinosaur skeletons - are not actually real. Over 99 percent of museum collections are held in immense, unseen storehouses. And it's becoming clear that these institutions have not been as honest about their complex histories as they should be. Yet natural history museums are also the only museums that can save the world - it is just starting to be understood that their vast collections are indispensable resources in the fight against biodiversity loss and climate catastrophe.

Weaving together fresh historical research with surprising insights, Nature's Memory is a love letter to the joys, eccentricities and planet-saving potential of the world's best-loved museums.

By: Jack Ashby
Imprint: Allen Lane
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 242mm, Width: 163mm, Spine: 30mm
Weight: 543g
ISBN: 9780241656884
ISBN 10: 0241656885
Pages: 336
Publication Date: 22 July 2025
Audience: General/trade , College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , ELT Advanced , Primary
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Jack Ashby is the Assistant Director of the University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge, an honorary research fellow in the Department of Science and Technology Studies at University College London, and the President of the Society for the History of Natural History. He is the author of Platypus Matters- The Extraordinary Story of Australian Mammals and Animal Kingdom- A Natural History in 100 Objects, and winner of the Zoological Society of London's award for communicating zoology. He lives in Hertfordshire.

Reviews for Nature's Memory: Behind the Scenes at the World’s Natural History Museums

Very engaging, well researched and wide-ranging, Ashby knows more about this topic than anyone. He makes you look at museums in a different way, seeing the stories and choices beneath the surface of the displays -- Thomas Halliday