I used to work at South Kensington for a number of years (at Imperial College) so I know these museum quite well. It is however a luxury to be able to spend the afternoon here.

In the Science Museum I study some etchings about James Watt, FRS, FRSE & his work in his on improvements in steam engine technology. In one I find Edward Jenner, FRS, who I have been writing about in my  Critical Practice Essay.
L0027317 Distinguished British men of science 1807-1808 assembled in

Distinguished Men of Science of Great Britain 1807-8. Designed by John Gilbert, drawn by Frederick Skill and William Walker & engraved by William Walker and Georg Zobel (Wellcome Images).

Drawing was and still is an integral part of natural history for description & communication. My first undergraduate practical we studied & recorded variation in snail shells. The Natural History Museum’s collections contain over half-a-million artworks & there was an interesting exhibition on the use of drawing in recording the natural world. Visitors are encouraged to draw items on display.

Drawings at the NHM Dec 13

Julian Pender Hume a palaeontologist & artist described exaggerations in iconic Dodo painting by Roelant Savery. He compared Savery’s  Dodo painting to one of his own based on morphological records of the Dodo & closer to how we believe the Dodo may have looked.

The Dodo Roelant Savery

 

Roelant Savery’s Dodo

The Dodo Julian Pender Hume

The Dodo by Julian Pender Hume

Notes: Science & NH Museums 12 Dec 13

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/art-nature-imaging/

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/art-nature-imaging/collections/art-themes/caught_in_oils/dodo_main.htm