Kate Diston and Zoë Simmons

Kate Diston and Zoë Simmons talk about their book on the treasures of Oxford University Museum of Natural History and bring along some of the museum’s most cherished objects to show.

Diston and Simmons chose objects from across the collection that illustrate the scientifically important work of the museum and to tell stories that are normally hidden from public view.  They include the only soft tissue remains in existence of the iconic dodo, a giant tuna brought back from Madeira on a perilous sea crossing in 1846, crabs collected by Charles Darwin during his voyage on The Beagle, David Livingstone’s tsetse fly specimens and Mary Anning’s ichthyosaur.

Diston and Simmons both work at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History as head of archives and library and as collections manager in the entomology collections respectively.

Presented by Bodleian Libraries.