Comments on: Church of the Bio-geek http://agro.biodiver.se/2009/08/church-of-the-bio-geek/ Crops, animals, wild relatives ... Tue, 14 Feb 2012 07:45:10 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: tai haku http://agro.biodiver.se/2009/08/church-of-the-bio-geek/comment-page-1/#comment-808480 tai haku Tue, 25 Aug 2009 14:40:53 +0000 http://agro.biodiver.se/?p=8125#comment-808480 Mary - the mammal room was "interesting". I certainly agree about the smell and there were a number of specimens in desperate need of repair but there were also some fabulous specimens (like the complete Steller's sea cow and the whales) often tucked away. I suspect the place is probably quite tight for funds - I'd love to have access to that collection and a huge dollop of cash to make the place over, it has the makings of a fabulous facility. Mary – the mammal room was “interesting”. I certainly agree about the smell and there were a number of specimens in desperate need of repair but there were also some fabulous specimens (like the complete Steller’s sea cow and the whales) often tucked away. I suspect the place is probably quite tight for funds – I’d love to have access to that collection and a huge dollop of cash to make the place over, it has the makings of a fabulous facility.

]]> By: Mary http://agro.biodiver.se/2009/08/church-of-the-bio-geek/comment-page-1/#comment-808470 Mary Tue, 25 Aug 2009 13:16:04 +0000 http://agro.biodiver.se/?p=8125#comment-808470 @tai--that's funny, that's pretty much how I felt about the mammal room. It smelled of formaldehyde, and was the sort of standard and underwhelming collection of roadkill under glass that I did expect. @tai–that’s funny, that’s pretty much how I felt about the mammal room. It smelled of formaldehyde, and was the sort of standard and underwhelming collection of roadkill under glass that I did expect.

]]> By: tai haku http://agro.biodiver.se/2009/08/church-of-the-bio-geek/comment-page-1/#comment-808460 tai haku Tue, 25 Aug 2009 12:25:37 +0000 http://agro.biodiver.se/?p=8125#comment-808460 I'll be honest and admit I found the glass flowers slightly underwhelming. It's not that they aren't remarkably accurate, brilliantly constructed and so forth; they are. Its just that they are remarkably accurate models of grasses, umbellifers and so forth that notwithstanding their accuracy are a little drab and boring (because looking at a case of actual grasses or umbellifers would be a little drab too). I went hoping to be overwhelmed by their beauty a little more than their scientific accuracy if that complaint makes sense. I was kind of hoping to be in a hall of stunning blooms (to be fair to them I was scouting proposal venues at the time). This isn't to say you shouldn't go - you should; the harvard museum of natural history is a fab little museum (if a little worse for wear in places) with some seriously cool exhibits (the Harvard Mastodon, the Kronosaurus and the aforementioned glass flowers) -just know what to expect. I’ll be honest and admit I found the glass flowers slightly underwhelming. It’s not that they aren’t remarkably accurate, brilliantly constructed and so forth; they are. Its just that they are remarkably accurate models of grasses, umbellifers and so forth that notwithstanding their accuracy are a little drab and boring (because looking at a case of actual grasses or umbellifers would be a little drab too). I went hoping to be overwhelmed by their beauty a little more than their scientific accuracy if that complaint makes sense. I was kind of hoping to be in a hall of stunning blooms (to be fair to them I was scouting proposal venues at the time).

This isn’t to say you shouldn’t go – you should; the harvard museum of natural history is a fab little museum (if a little worse for wear in places) with some seriously cool exhibits (the Harvard Mastodon, the Kronosaurus and the aforementioned glass flowers) -just know what to expect.

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