My thoughts:

One trait that distinguishes us as a species is our habit of acquiring, keeping, and handing objects on to subsequent generations. Wise man‹Homo sapiens‹ that we have called ourselves, (we) might more fittingly be named Keeper man‹H. collector. Our museums appear to be the ultimate, present-day totems illustrating this human characteristic. However, it seems that curiosity is at the root of our collections, at least natural history collections, for we were most likely a curious man before we became a keeper man or a wise man (or woman).

Curiosity about our environment led us on an evolutionary path of investigation, documentation, and organization of our natural world. It resulted in creating a collection of the familiar out of the unfamiliar, to be passed on from generation to generation. Collectors and their collections have become milestones in our history and identity.



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Peter B. Tirrell