Science for the Nation

An engaging study of a great national institution. Essays explore the changing roles of museums and the perceived public role of a museum of science and technology. Illuminates the ways in which we think about the collecting and display of objects and the often difficult relations between the state, business and industry, and museum funding.

'Science for the Nation is more than a chronological account of the museum's history, fascinating as that story is. It also includes chapters on the museum staff and its library, buildings, collections, exhibitions and visitors...It is also an account of change...It is constantly changing and evolving, much like science itself.' - E & T 'It is an account with something new even for those well-versed in the museum's history.' - Life After the Museum Newsletter 'Successful in commemorating the Science Museum as an internationally important institution [...] It is a fitting and varied testament to the museum's first century and a half.' Richard Dunn, The Journal of BJHS '...the Science Museum deserves credit for publishing a book that contributes to the study of museology, history of collections and the material culture of science.' Science for the Nation

SCOTT ANTHONY Research Fellow at the University of Manchester, UK TIMOTHY BOON Chief Curator at the Science Museum, London, UK ROBERT BUD Principal Curator of Medicine, the Science Museum and Visiting Professorial Fellow of History at Queen Mary University of London, UK PETER J. T. MORRIS Principal Curator of Science, the Science Museum, London, UK THAD PARSONS Doctoral Candidate, Oxford UniversityDAVID ROONEY Curator of Transport, the Science Museum, London, UKTOM SCHEINFELDT Managing Director, Center for History and New Media and Research Assistant Professor of History, George Mason University, Virginia, USA NICK WYATT Library Manager, the Science Museum Library, London, UK