The field, the museum and the lecture hall: the spaces of natural history in Victorian Cornwall

This paper contributes to our understandings of the geographies of science through an analysis of nineteenth–century natural history and, in particular, of the provincial natural history society. Focusing on nineteenth–century Cornwall and one of the main natural history societies operating in the county at that time – the Penzance Natural History and Antiquarian Society – it is argued that a set of key spaces were integral to the operations and outputs of such societies. The paper details the significance of the Penzance Society's museum, field sites and lecture hall as sites for communal work of local natural historians. They were also important, it is argued, in their construction of West Cornwall as a site of national natural scientific importance. Lastly, these spaces defined an agenda for regional scientific study. In particular, they promoted a taxonomic method that would transform local people into rigorous scientists and the local region into a 'book of nature'.     

西藏次仁切阿雪山博物馆

藏文化中“自然与人”的关系密不可分是藏民族文化精髓的重要组成部分。“次仁切阿”就源自喜马拉雅山脉的什么传说。几千年来,在藏族先民与青藏高原的和谐相处中,形成了特有的生活方式和民族文化。藏文化中“自然与人”的关系密不可分,是藏民族文化精髓的重要组成部分。“次仁切阿”就源自喜马拉雅山脉的神秘传说。     

The red line over European colonialism: comparison of the Macao museum and Hong Kong museum of history after their return to China

Hong Kong and Macao were once European colonies. A unique, hybrid culture of East and West now flourishes in these two Special Administrative Regions (SARs) of China. Both cities opened new history museums in 1998, but they adopted remarkably different approaches in their representation of their complicated and politically sensitive history. The Hong Kong Museum of History (HKMH) represents history by closely following the orientation of traditional Chinese nationalism. The postcolonial characteristics adopted by the Macao Museum to reproduce history, in contrast, are likely amongst the richest of all history museums in China. What are the reasons behind the different historical representations by Hong Kong and Macao, which were both promised a ‘One country, Two systems’ policy by the Chinese central authority? This paper argues that both museums reveal two faces of a rising China; the one in Hong Kong emphasises national dignity, and the people’s identification with and loyalty to the nation when it is engaged in state building. The one in Macao emphasises the multiple roles in finding a balanced position to coexist with superpowers, forging friendships with developing countries and building an idealised image of a (re-)rising nation through historical construction. The difference between these two museums indicates the exceptional flexibility of China’s postcommunist regime in engaging in soft power diplomacy.     

Anthropology of women: The natural history stage

Carolyn J. Matthiasson, ed. Many Sisters: Women in Cross‐Cultural Perspective. New York: The Free Press, 1974. xxi + 433 pp. Illustrations, maps, figures, bibliography, and index. $15.00

Yolanda Murphy and Robert F. Murphy. Women of the Forest. New York: Columbia University Press, 1974. xii + 236 pp. Maps, bibliography, and index. $10.00 (cloth); $3.45 (paper).     

The commonwealth as history

The Imperial Dream: The British Commonwealth and Empire 1775–1969 by Edward Grierson. London: Collins, 1972. Pp. 320. £2.50. It is a pity that no one has troubled to read the proofs; the bibliography is peppered with spelling mistakes.

Commonwealth: A History of the British Commonwealth of Nations by H. Duncan Hall, with an introduction by Sir Robert Menzies. London, New York, Cincinnati, Toronto, Melbourne: Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., 1971. Pp. xxxvi+1015, maps, illustrations. £10.00.     

寻找千古之谜的钥匙——记新疆吐鲁番地区博物馆

日前所知,地球上曾经存在过的最大的哺乳动物是巨犀。一头距今２４００万年前的巨犀,由坚如磐石的骨骼支撑着庞大的躯体,举世罕见,于１９９７年蹒姗走进新疆吐鲁番地区博物馆,成为镇馆之宝,每年吸引着成千上万的中外游人前来一睹其风采。 这是一座外观简捷明快、造型独特的综合性博物馆。正壁以淡黄色瓷砖平铺,象征茫茫荒漠戈壁;间用红色瓷砖镶嵌点饰,喻意人类不断地战胜大自然,创造出灿烂的文化和高度的文明,蓬蓬勃勃,繁衍不息。馆内长年对外开放的展厅,现在有三个,除“巨犀化石陈列厅”外,还有“吐鲁番历史文物陈列厅”、…     

The Cold War as history

Jonathan Haslam's Russia's Cold War is the latest effort by a western scholar to synthesize new research and findings on the Soviet role in the Cold War. Citing an array of published Russian archival material, Haslam seeks to resuscitate the traditional western Cold War view that the conflict was the inevitable result of communist expansionism. However, the material cited by Haslam does not support such a conclusion and he ignores conflicting evidence and views. The Cold War was a war of choice not necessity, the result of distorted perceptions and calculations by both sides, aided and abetted by generations of ideologically aligned historians.     

The anthropologist as historian and as scientist,or the uses of history

Margaret T. Hodgen. Anthropology, History, and Cultural Change. Viking Fund Publications in Anthropology No. 52. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1974. vii + 108 pp. Tables, maps, references, and index. $4.50 (paper).

Annemarie deWaal Malefijt. Images of Man: A History of Anthropological Thought. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1974. ix + 383 pp. Bibliography and index. $10.00 (cloth); $3.50 (paper).     

Lightning whelk natural history and a new sourcing method

Artifacts made from sinistral (left-handed) whelk shells are commonly found at inland archaeological sites in eastern North America. Past attempts to source the coast of origin of these marine shells based on chemical analyses have provided tentative results. A knowledge of sinistral whelk natural history is essential before attempting shell sourcing studies. The common occurrence of sinistral whelks in the Gulf of Mexico and their uncommon occurrence along both the South Atlantic and Mid-Atlantic bights are documented. Critical biogeographical and morphological information is presented, as well as a new method of sourcing artifacts based on spire-angle measurements. Sinistral whelk artifacts from Spiro, East St. Louis, and Cahokia probably came from the eastern Gulf of Mexico.     

1840-1860年间清政府三种外交体系分析

两次鸦片战争期间的中外关系,如果按照类型分析法标准来划分,可以基本分为朝贡体系Ⅰ型、Ⅱ型和Ⅲ型三类。中国与三类国家间的关系及其各自体制内部的演变错综复杂。两次鸦片战争之间的中外关系显然发生了重要变化。澄清这一时期中外关系复杂的性质,对中国近代史研究具有重要意义。     

The role of images in the development of Renaissance natural history

This review surveys recent scholarship on the history of natural history with special attention to the role of images in the Renaissance. It discusses how classicism, collecting and printing were important catalysts for the Renaissance study of nature. Classicism provided inspiration of how to study and what kind of object to examine in nature, and several images from the period can be shown to reflect these classical values. The development of the passion for collecting and the rise of commerce in nature's commodities led to the circulation of a large number of exotic flora and fauna. Pictures enabled scholars to access unobtainable objects, build up knowledge of rare objects over time, and study them long after the live specimens had died away. Printing replicated pictures alongside texts and enabled scholars to share and accumulate knowledge. Images, alongside objects and text, were an important means of studying nature. Naturalists' images, in turn, became part of a larger visual culture in which nature was regarded as a beautiful and fascinating object of admiration.     

Front doors to freedom,portal to the past: history at the Ellis Island immigration museum,New York

Heritage sites and museums play a significant role in the production and legitimization of historical knowledges and social identities. The potential for these institutions to act in ways that maintain deep‐rooted inequalities in the relative power of social groups has long been noted by academic commentators. A critique of the role of museums in reproducing ‘official’ histories is now well established. In this paper we explore new ways of conceptualizing and empirically exploring the production and politics of museum histories. By tracing the historical development of museums, we explore the power play between individual actors and institutions involved in production of the museum, and the multi‐vocal histories and landscapes which result from the interaction between these actors. We illustrate these arguments through a case study of Ellis Island Immigration Museum in New York Harbor.