Park and Daston's splendid book opens up a whole new perspective, not only on the modern aspects of the collections...but on the larger history to which they belong. Their rich illustrations and detailed, learned captions, ingeniously laid out in dialogue with the erudite text, bring the reader into a series of spaces where natural objects were laid out for display ... Read moreand study, from the court banquet to the early laboratory. -New York Review of Books A handsome and endlessly intriguing book. -Washington Post ...a vast, ambitious history of marvels...learned and light in equal measure. -Times Literary Supplement ...dense with erudition and pleasingly light on its scholarly feet. -Kirkus Review Show Less