3.5 stars

I really wanted to like this book, and the very first chapter and the final chapter were great! I especially loved getting insight from museum staff who curate exhibits, and the various examples of natural history museums circa 2001 lightening up and trying to engage visitors via humor and comment boards.

However, in-between those chapters, I got a bit bogged down in all the evolution (heh) of evolutionary theory. I enjoyed learning about the scientists of the 19th century who tried to pin down the whys and hows of evolution, but I had a bit of trouble following along with who was who and what their exact beliefs were.

I did, however, learn a lot of great things in this book. For example, he points out how London's Natural History Museum focuses a great deal on Darwin, while Parisian museums downplay him and focus on biologists who worked closer to home. There's also a lot about evolutionary theory and early experiments that I hadn't thought about before as a person who grew up taking it (mostly) for granted that Darwin's theory of evolution was pretty on the nose. So, a bit dry, but the topics this book covers make it a worthy read.