Book Description

Take an exclusive backstage tour of the world's most exciting museums and discover their hidden treasures. This behind-the-scenes guide showcases a huge range of incredible artefacts from history and reveals the hard work, care, and effort that goes into collecting, preserving, and storing them. Ever wondered what happens to an astronaut's space suit after it's been worn on the Moon? Or how the world's most valuable diamond is looked after? Find out all about how museums work and the people that make it happen - from how historians preserve and care for Anne Frank's diary to what it takes for an archaeologist and curator to excavate and exhibit an enormous wooly mammoth skeleton. You'll even find out about the bugs and pests that museum workers have to guard against to protect the future of history's most precious artefacts. Behind the Scenes at the Museum gives the reader exclusive access to hidden objects that aren't normally on public display. It lets you into a world of animal specimens pickled and preserved in jars, priceless gems and jewellery too valuable to be on display, and fragile documents and fabrics that must be kept in carefully controlled conditions. Along the way, you'll learn about the techniques and processes that keep these objects in good condition, preserved and safe for future generations. Filled with incredible images, step-by-step explanations of exciting techniques, and job profiles of the people that make it happen, Behind the Scenes at the Museum offers unique, behind-the-curtain access to the secret delights of the world's most interesting museums.