True to form: models made for science

Abstract

This exhibition grew out of an investigation into a series of scientific models held by the Macleay Museum. The models had lost any connection to their original purpose, and in many cases, their identification. With the invaluable assistance of Nick Hopwood’s publication, Embryos in Wax: Models from the Ziegler Studio (Cambridge University Press, 2002), many of the wax embryology models were able to be identified, raising questions of how and when such models came to the University of Sydney. The aim of the exhibition was to explore the use of three-dimensional models for teaching science at the University of Sydney. It brought to light little seen and unknown collections held at the University from the School of Biological Sciences, the Faculty of Medicine and Veterinary Science as well as objects from the Macleay Museum’s collection.