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Exactly the book for every young explorer who loves finding stuff in nature and bringing it home. Cabinet of Curiosities is a lavishly illustrated introduction to the wonders of natural history and the joys of being an amateur scientist and collector. Nature writer Gordon Grice, who started his first cabinet of curiosities at age six when he found a skunk's skull, explains how scientists classify all living things through the Linnaeus system; how to tell real gold from fool's gold; how to preserve butterflies, crab shells, feathers, a robin's egg, spider specimens, and honeycombs; how to identify seashells; the difference between antlers and horns; how to read animal tracks. And then, what to do with your specimens, including how to build a cabinet of curiosities out of common household objects, like a desk organizer or a box for fishing tackle.… (more)
User reviews
Advice on constructing your own cabinet takes up the next few pages, with suggestions ranging from tackle boxes to typesetter trays to pizza boxes.
But then the rest of the book is a fairly boring breakdown of phyla, with old illustrations and one or two close-up photos of examples on a white background. This is much less useful than any field guide and less interesting that seeing how collections might be organized and displayed.
Kind of a waste of time and effort.
It's informative, easy to read and the photos are beautiful. I love just looking at the images and all the detail.
A really nice and pretty book. So glad I picked it up.