An exhibition of books and archives from the Royal Society Library and fossils from the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences, Cambridge.

 Fossils have been a familiar sight for people throughout history, but for many generations they prompted a series of questions. What are fossils? How are they formed? How did they get inside rocks?

To help answer these questions, geologists from the 16th century onwards collected and studied fossils. Often they published their theories in beautifully illustrated books. The works of each generation of scientists produced new answers to fundamental questions about the history of the earth, and the progress of life on earth.

This exhibition displays some of the fossil specimens owned by Fellows of the Royal Society in the 17th and 18th centuries, and printed books demonstrating the changing ideas about fossils. Highlights include an ichthyosaur discovered by Mary Anning, the original illustrations for Agostino Scilla's 'La vana speculazione disingannata dal senso' (published in 1670), and specimens from the collections of Scilla and John Woodward FRS. 

Open until Friday 08 November 2013