What We're Reading: Tracy

Windows on Nature: the Great Habitat Dioramas of the American Museum of Natural History, by Stephen Christopher Quinn.

The American Museum of Natural History in New York City houses some of the most beautiful animal dioramas ever constructed. This format, which attempts to replicate a scene from nature to give the viewer a sense of "being there", was once the standard in museum displays. It has since fallen out of favor with many new museum professionals, who consider it too static and dated, and it has been replaced in many institutions with flashy new exhibits featuring recorded sounds, animatronic models, and interactive devices like buttons to push.

The loss of these great exhibits, some of which were constructed at a cost that included the lives of the explorers, hunters, and taxidermists who collected the material, is tragic. (Carl Akeley, for whom the African Hall at the AMNH is named, survived severe mauling by a leopard and trampling by an elephant, only to finally perish from a fever on his final expedition.)

This beautiful book by the AMNH's Senior Project Manager, Stephen C. Quinn, preserves these important dioramas, along with the thrilling accounts of their construction and fascinating backstage details. Highly recommended for museum and natural science lovers.