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The article considers the history of the Renaissance study of "Naturalis Historia" or "Natural History" by Pliny the Elder. In 1517 Bishop Richard Fox lectured on the work at Oxford University, in 1520 Oxford bookseller John Dorne was selling the Latin work, parts of the work made their way into 16th century English grammar school education, and in the 1560s the work was being translated into English.

Where did all those dead animals come from? What are they used for? These are questions that natural history museums must be prepared to answer. Specimen collections are a valuable research tool, hut their utility remains a mystery to many. In this article, we introduce the Web exhibit "Doing Natural History" (http://mvz.berkeley.edu/DoingNaturalHistoryj as an educational resource that draws connections between early twentieth-century evolutionary biology and innovative museum science today. As a companion to the Web exhibit, in this article, we show how natural history research changed during the twentieth century and argue that collections have provided the basis for innovation in natural history, integrative biology, and, more generally, in the life sciences. Drawing on examples from the University of California, Berkeley's, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, we look at the practice of natural history to reveal the centrality of collections to both practice and theory in the life sciences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This commentary originally was presented to recognize receipt of the Joseph Grinnell Award for Excellence in Education at the 85th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Mammalogists in Arcata, California, in June 2004. Natural history is the multidisciplinary description of nature, and naturalists are those who study nature. In its own right, natural history is a relevant discipline, despite varying degrees of focus by professional biologists and academic institutions over the past 100 years, and it is a critical contemporary discipline relative to global crises in the conservation of biodiversity. Many scholars have written that natural history has fallen out of favor at American universities. I review this perspective within the context of 20th century developments in society and trends in American higher education. My conclusion is that a narrowing of the context of natural history in the 20th century has diminished its significance. However, there is compelling evidence that, if we broaden our approach and horizons, natural history scholarship can play a pivotal role in American science and education in the 21st century. Institutions of higher education that emphasize natural history in their curriculum will enhance not only their academic profile but also students' appreciation of the importance of natural history throughout their lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the association of phenology as the modernist paradox within the book of Donald Culross Peattie, entitled "An Almanac for Moderns." It mentions that the concept of phenology being used by Peattie is concerned with the transient and the permanent in nature. It states that his interest in the timing of natural events had predominated his study on natural history.

Addresses the changes that natural history museums must make in order to adapt to the twenty-first century. Outline of four challenges they must solve; Call to curb their already expansive collection of biodiverse specimens; Opinion that they should alter their approach to educating students on biodiversity; Need to revise public programs and management.

Highlights the role of international networks of computerized databases in providing information about the flora and fauna specimens in the study of natural history. Progress towards automating collection records; Computer generated maps to give scientists the ability to locate the origin of species; Public access to collections.

Several letters to the editor are presented in response to articles in previous issues including "Science-Technology and Society," by Andrew Mc-Clary in the May 15, 1970 issue, the failure of biologists to explain scientific theories of evolution in sufficiently simple terms in the June 1, 1970 issue and sympathy on the issue concerning the reversal of actions that threaten the environment.