Staff Review: The Secret Museum by Molly Oldfield

My good friend lives in NYC and she is always getting me to go to museums and art shows, often at a deep discount. She is very clever and thrifty in that way. She has inspired me to investigate other museums to go to. I was looking around our library’s catalog for something interesting to read about museums and The Secret Museum by Molly Oldfield popped up. The description looked interesting and reviews were positive. When it arrived it wasn’t what I expected! It’s a substantial book. I think they call this type of book a coffee table book. It has a beautiful cover and no matter where I open it up, it was wonderfully interesting and full of fun details. My favorite quote from it is, “It’s strange to think that we humans- who are all made of stardust- look up at the sky to study galaxies without often reflecting on the fact that what we are actually studying is light. The things we’re looking at are no longer there.” See! Pretty unexpected given the title. Another story that stuck with me was Object 25, A Blue Whale. Apparently, all that we know about the Blue Whale is thanks for Dr. Fredrick John Knox. Whale bone corsets weren’t actually made from whale bones. It’s made from the baleen, the stuff that whales use for ‘teeth-‘ which isn’t bone, come to find out. If you can’t get yourself to a museum anytime soon I recommend checking this book out. It gives you that sense of awe and wonder without the travel and expense.  (review by Heather Gayton)