"The public galleries take up much less than half of the space of the Natural History Museum. Tucked away, mostly out of view, there is a warren of corridors, obsolete galleries, offices, libraries and above all, collections. This is the natural habitat of the curator. It is where I have spent a large part of my life—indeed, the Natural History Museum provides a way of life as distinctive as that of a monastery. Most people in the world at large know very little about this unique habitat. This is the world I shall reveal."
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Naturalists from EnglandNon-fiction authors from EnglandCuratorsAutobiographers from EnglandGeologists from the United Kingdom
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Richard Fortey
(15 February 1946 – 7 March 2025) was an English , and palaeontologist, specialising in s. After graduating with a PhD in geology from the University of Cambridge, he had a long career as curator and palaeontologist at London’s . He was elected in 1997 a Fellow of the Royal Society and in 2007 President of the Geological Society of London. Two of his books became ' bestsellers. He was awarded in 2000 the , in 2003 the , and in 2006 both the and the .
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