Fungarium: Welcome to the Museum

Product Information

Lisa Edwards, Head of Children’s Publishing, Kings Road Publishing said: “Welcome to the Museum has become a flagship series for Big Picture Press and the partnership with Kew on Botanicum was so successful that we’re delighted to be working with them and the wonderful Katie Scott again. We pride ourselves on finding exactly the right illustrators and partners for our beautiful books and the Science Museum share our passion for helping children and families discover the fascinating world around them. Together with Raman Prinja and the illustrator of the moment, Chris Wormell, we know we have created a superb book offering and a Christmas gift winner on our hands.” Specimens, paper records and objects can degrade over time, or could be lost in a catastrophic event. Imaging them today preserves them in digital form, for much longer than their physical existence.

Big Picture Press, an imprint of Templar Publishing, is partnering with the Science Museum and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew to publish two new titles in its hugely successful Welcome to the Museum series. The first of the two books, Planetarium, in partnership with the Science Museum, is written by UCL Professor of Astrophysics, Raman Prinja and illustrated by The Book of Dust’s Chris Wormell. Set to publish later this year, the book will herald a likely surge in space publishing for the moon-landing anniversary in 2019. Wendy Burford, Science Museum Group Publishing Manager, said: “We are thrilled that Planetarium will be joining the Welcome to the Museum series. Exploring Space is one of our most iconic galleries, filled with fascinating Space Age objects and stories. Next year will mark the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing and Planetarium will give readers a beautifully illustrated insight into our exploration of the universe so far.” Admito que compré este libro por sus hermosas ilustraciones y terminé enamorándome del contenido, aunque en un par de ocasiones lo llegué a sentir demasiado inundado de un vocabulario muy especializado. Resumo brevemente algunas cosas que captaron mi curiosidad: What you learn about fungi is incredibly fascinating. For example, of the estimated 2.2 to 3.8 million different species of fungi on Earth, fewer than 5 percent have been identified! They are so diverse, and full of surprises. A lichen, for example, is actually made up of two different organisms functioning as a single, stable unit: a fungus, and an alga or cyanobacterium, which is it's source of food. Sort of like mating with a grocery store owner. Pretty clever!Speaking of learning, I feel like I learned almost nothing from this book: the text felt sometimes waaay to scientific and technical (especially considering that it's targeted mainly to middle grade readers), and sometimes oversimplified. Overall, it gave off a sense of non-cohesiveness, and the illustrations of something incredibly pretty but also not really useful.

Ester Gaya is a senior research leader at Kew. She began her career in mycology in Spain and after some time in the USA decided to settle in the UK. She has spent the past 20 years researching fungi. She is especially fascinated by lichens and tries to understand their evolution.Fungarium, much like the other compendiums from the Welcome To The Museum series, is stunningly illustrated and full of well researched, scintallating facts that will prove fascinating and useful in turn. Learn here about how fungus works, how mushroom is technically not a true scientific term, and about how fungus is one of those kingdoms we know so little on that we have discovered roughly only around 5% of what scientists believe to be the true number of fungus species on planet earth. Extracts of turkey tail have been used as mainstream cancer treatments since the 1970s in Japan and 1980s in China. “Turkey tail is an immune system regulator,” says Baxter. “It’s very good for lung cancers and a lot of different cancers.” We are also proud to have fungi collected by John Ray, Charles Darwin, Alexander von Humboldt and many other famous naturalists around the world.

Planetarium will give readers a beautifully illustrated insight into our exploration of the universe so far.Chaga, which grows on birch trees and resembles burnt charcoal, prevents wrinkles, helps counter IBD and fights bacterial and viral infections, according to some of those that sell it. Cordyceps militaris, the “zombie fungus” that inspired the HBO series The Last of Us, is reported to improve exercise performance, act as an antidepressant and boost female libido. In none of these cases however, are such claims supported by well-designed clinical trials. A digitised collection can be accessed online for free by researchers from anywhere in the world. It helps make research more efficient by sharing our knowledge with as many people as possible. Hay en el mundo de los hongos un verdadero apartado de terror. Los hongos no solo pueden infectar o enfermar a otros organismos, como los insectos, sino que en algunas ocasiones pueden liberar sustancias químicas capaces de manipular el cerebro de ellos y tomar el control de su cuerpo al más parecido estilo "zombi".

Los hongos están de moda, aunque siento que es más por el tema de las drogas y su carácter lúdico, y menos por las razones que me gustarían. Nota Bene: This book is part of the outstanding Welcome to the Museum Series, which are uniformly excellent. There are quite a few, some of which include: Planetarium, Dinosaurium, Botanicum, Historium, and Animalium. Another benefit is improving access. Our collections and records are highly sought after by researchers, not all of whom will be able to access them in person.Created in collaboration with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the captivating and fascinating text is written by Kew mycologists David L. Hawksworth, Laura M. Suz, Pepijn W. Kooij, Kare Liimatainen, Tom Prescott, Lee Davies and Ester Gaya.