A Place for Everything: Making order out of chaos
5 May to 31 October 2007
How do people classify the world? Who named the animals and plants we see around us?
Western museums developed from private 'cabinets of curiosities' during the 18th century. As vast quantities of material flooded into Europe from colonies and empires it became increasingly important to know how to sort it into some kind of order. How could people make sense of it all?
In the natural sciences, Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus devised a system of naming that still shapes science today. It gave each species a unique scientific name. This year is the 300th anniversary of Linnaeus's birth. To mark this occasion, The Manchester Museum is holding a programme of exhibitions and events for all ages, examining the purpose of names and categories.We'll be looking at alternative schemes of classification that reflect the diversity of the world and the importance of language.
You will find a number of new exhibits exploring classification and naming located throughout much of the Museum. These include an original copy of Linnaeus's ground-breaking book, the Systema Naturae, published in 1758 and the return of the amazing Giant Spider Crab.
Temporary Names - Nomenclatio transitorius
Artist Fred Langford Edwards will be exhibiting new work funded by the Arts Council, based on his photographs of the Museum's natural history collection. His dramatic photographic artwork, entitled Systema Naturae, after Linnaeus's book, will also be shown throughout the period in the Museum reception.