Book Review: Dry Store Room No. 1: The Secret Life of the Natural History Museum by Richard Fortey

This was a lovely collection of stories and anecdotes from behind the scenes at the Natural History Museum. It was fascinating to understand the changes of the museum over the years, the relocation of collections and changes in research and conservation within the museum. 

This book has been on my 'to read list' for years, after I attended a lecture by Richard Fortey at the Natural History Museum and had my copy signed. It is a fascinating book exploring the hidden world of working in a natural history museum. I liked how to book wandered around from topic to topic, like you are exploring the different hidden rooms and galleries, opening different doors to see what they contain. I enjoyed reading it, and it is something you can dip in and out of. Some chapters were more interesting than others, but there is likely to be something for everyone. 

I think this book would appeal to anyone interested in how museums are run or looking to work in a museum, or interested in nature and science, and how science communication has changed over the years. I would recommend this book to young adults who are interested in science and curation. 

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Book Review: The Theory That Would Not Die: How Bayes' Rule Cracked the Enigma Code, Hunted Down Russian Submarines, and Emerged Triumphant from Two Centuries of Controversy by Sharon Bertsch McGrayne

The theory that would not die was a surprisingly good book, exploring the fascinating story behind Bayes theory. I worked in genetics and have a basic understanding of Bayes, and so it was fascinating to learn more about how this statistical technique was developed.

I did feel the book could have been condensed a little, as it did feel too long and repetitive at times. As a book about a mathematic theorem for causal readers, it does avoid complex equations, however I think it could have benefited from a couple of images or equations to help illustrate the dialog.

Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone studying science, mathematics, statistics, engineering or with an interest in problem-solving. 

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