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Interesting Shells
'Gorgeous' - BBC Wildlife
Shells are exoskeletons of living creatures and have fascinated humans for millennia.
Interesting Shells presents portraits of beautiful specimens from the Natural History Museum's vast collections, each accompanied by a caption explaining their unique characteristics – whether biological, historical or geographical.
Shells are exoskeletons of living creatures and have fascinated humans for millennia.
Interesting Shells presents portraits of beautiful specimens from the Natural History Museum's vast collections, each accompanied by a caption explaining their unique characteristics – whether biological, historical or geographical.
Hardcover
Published February 24, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 16, 2022
I have always loved hunting for shells on the beach, a kid part of me that has never left, unfortunately the only beaches I get to search are in the UK and the options are rather limited and unspectacular. This book has an amazing collection of exotic shells found from all over the world, included are the locations and depth of where you could find them…should be easy enough, I just need a pair of swimming trunks that can withstand the Hydrothermal vents so I can collect a Scaly-foot snail shell.
Whenever I think of shells, I never consider snail shells to be collectable, but they are just as spectacular as those that you find in the ocean. The photographs in this book are taken from the collection at the Natural History Museum in London, a place that has now moved up my list of places to visit, I need to see this collection in person as this book only contains a small fraction. With each shell you get a bit of history on how it was named, how it was found, how it has been used, where it can be found and how big it can get. The one missing part that would have completed the trump card stats is how old they can get. I will never stop being amazed by how clever nature is and the information included here just adds to that amazement, the creatures mentioned create their own colours to make the shells pretty, create weapons, work with algae to survive and can take down a ship easier than a pirate can.
I’d name my favourites but with each page I turned I found a new one, a beautiful, informative and well laid out book and ideal for any bookcase as you never know when you’ll need to identify a newly found shell.
Blog review: https://felcherman.wordpress.com/2022...
Whenever I think of shells, I never consider snail shells to be collectable, but they are just as spectacular as those that you find in the ocean. The photographs in this book are taken from the collection at the Natural History Museum in London, a place that has now moved up my list of places to visit, I need to see this collection in person as this book only contains a small fraction. With each shell you get a bit of history on how it was named, how it was found, how it has been used, where it can be found and how big it can get. The one missing part that would have completed the trump card stats is how old they can get. I will never stop being amazed by how clever nature is and the information included here just adds to that amazement, the creatures mentioned create their own colours to make the shells pretty, create weapons, work with algae to survive and can take down a ship easier than a pirate can.
I’d name my favourites but with each page I turned I found a new one, a beautiful, informative and well laid out book and ideal for any bookcase as you never know when you’ll need to identify a newly found shell.
Blog review: https://felcherman.wordpress.com/2022...
December 31, 2025
I found this book really interesting as there was information or a story behind each shell in the Natural History Museum’s collection.
We had seen the collection on the last time we visited the museum, so do remember some of the pieces. When I saw this book in the gift shop I just had to get it.
I always favour books with photographs of shells over illustrations.
We had seen the collection on the last time we visited the museum, so do remember some of the pieces. When I saw this book in the gift shop I just had to get it.
I always favour books with photographs of shells over illustrations.
July 20, 2026
Amazing photos and stories about beautiful shells
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews