Science for the Nation: Perspectives on the History of the Science Museum

Front Matter....Pages i-xxi
Introduction....Pages 1-10
Infected by the Bacillus of Science: The Explosion of South Kensington....Pages 11-40
The First Years: The Science Museum at War and Peace....Pages 41-60
The Science Museum and the Second World War....Pages 61-89
Ambition and Anxiety: The Science Museum, 1950–1983....Pages 90-110
Parallax Error? A Participant’s Account of the Science Museum, c.1980–c.2000....Pages 111-135
Waves of Change: How the Science Museum’s Library Rose, Fell and Rose Again....Pages 136-156
‘A Worthy and Suitable House’: The Science Museum Buildings and the Temporality of Space....Pages 157-175
Exhibiting Science: Changing Conceptions of Science Museum Display....Pages 176-193
Beyond the Children’s Gallery: The Influence of Children on the Development of the Science Museum....Pages 194-211
‘An Effective Organ of Public Enlightenment’: The Role of Temporary Exhibitions in the Science Museum....Pages 212-249
Collecting for the Science Museum: Constructing the Collections, the Culture and the Institution....Pages 250-272
Behind the Scenes: Housing the Collections....Pages 273-293
The International Context and the Context of Internationalism....Pages 294-311
Afterword: A Speech made at the Dinner to Celebrate the Centenary of the Science Museum on 11 June 2009 by Professor Chris Rapley CBE, Director of the Science Museum....Pages 312-316
Back Matter....Pages 317-350