Visit to the Oxford Natural History Museum

minotaurus-typhaeus-400 Having a couple of hours to waste whilst in Oxford decided to visit the Natural History Museum for the first time in years to get some inspiration for my insect gait studies (I don’t think I’ve been there since I was a post-doc). I remembered the museum as having a particularly good entomology display, and had been singularly unimpressed by the current public exhibition at the London Natural History Museum which I went to a few weeks ago (call me old fashioned, but I have fond memories as an undergraduate studiously examining countless displays of mounted insects and information about them as background for my final year project… whereas now it’s a lot more hands on exhibits and fancy information stands).

Unbeknown to me before my visit, there is currently an exhibition of illustrations (graphite on draughting paper, and pen and ink anatomical diagrams) by Masashi Kimura, by all accounts a very talented artist.

One of his pictures is reproduced below with the ability to zoom in to see more detail, although I took the opportunity to purchase some examples, now framed on my office wall, this has been “borrowed” from the University of Oxford Shop, where there are more examples.

Move your mouse over image or click to enlarge

Incidentally, the entomology displays at the museum are still very good, I’d forgotten what a great little museum it is… and then there’s the bonus of the Pitt Rivers collection which is always great fun to peruse since however many times you visit there is always something you haven’t seen before (and yet I still get drawn towards the shrunken heads).

The exhibition runs until 31st March 2011.

Dave

Mathematician at the University of Warwick in the UK with research interests in equivariant bifurcation theory and applications, especially in modelling of insect locomotion. Teaching interests include online learning and innovative teaching methods. Also in a past life has been involved in summer school courses, and online material, for Gifted and Talented. He has been active on the Internet since 1995, initially though his UFO and Michael Schenker website, but now through a multitude of projects.

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