The Science of Art: object-focused research in our museums
Can you hear when a pigment has been ground to the right particle size? How do we know which plastics in a museum are going to self-destruct? Why is conservation documentation like a pile of dirty laundry? Can you make a priceless book full of moving paper parts and almost 500 years old accessible to all? Did the Pacific island…
Studying the earliest animal life
A new temporary display at the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences showcases the work of scientist Dr Emily Mitchell. Emily, a Henslow Research Fellow based in the Department of Earth Sciences, studies fossils of some of the very oldest and strangest animals found in remote locations in Newfoundland. Museum Director Liz Hide had a chat with Emily, and with exhibition…
Thinking outside the box
What links a sarcophagus, a Millais painting, an exquisite Anglo-Norman manuscript, and a large tureen in the shape of a carp? Seemingly nothing, but that is the joy of the Fitzwilliam Museum’s collections: something for everyone. But what would it be like for the collection to truly reach everyone? I am entirely thrilled to be one of four postdoctoral researchers…
