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A Natural Curiosity: The Story of the Bell Museum
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.
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.
- GenresHistory
400 pages, Hardcover
Published April 26, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 2, 2024
This is a nicely done book. It's a nice combination of history, profiles of some of the main people over the years, a lot about how the collection was built and thinking behind how the museum worked over the years. I had no idea its collection was so large and largely kept in buildings over on the St Paul campus. I always really enjoyed taking my kids over to the old Bell Museum when they were little and we all loved the dioramas and the touch and see room in the back. I liked that funky old space but there's no question the new museum is so much better.
December 2, 2022
I read half and skimmed half. The book is a beautiful tribute to the natural history Bell Museum in Minnesota, well written, with profiles of so many gifted scientists, artists and administrators who were (and are) a part of it.
July 30, 2022
Gorgeously done, but the size is overwhelming.
October 17, 2025
I really enjoyed it but it is a very big book and cumbersome to read. I largely enjoyed it as I worked at the g bf elk museum so new some staff mentioned in the book
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews