Teaching chart of snail anatomy

The University of Dundee's Zoology Museum was founded by D'Arcy Thompson, Professor of Biology for over 32 years between 1885 and 1917. Thompson collected specimens from all over the world, building up what was originally one of the largest museums of its kind in the country. He also used slides, models and large-scale charts like this to teach zoology to his students. Many of these teaching aids were ordered from Germany, which led the world at the time in combining art and science. D'Arcy's own work was also truly interdisciplinary - he used the specimens in his museum to research his ground-breaking book On Growth & Form (1917), which proposed that the shape and development of all living organisms was influenced by physical and mathematical laws. The book not only pioneered a new science, but also inspired artists, architects and designers from Henry Moore and Jackson Pollock to Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe. The D'Arcy Thompson Zoology Museum in the University of Dundee holds what remains of D'Arcy's original collection including many of his early teaching aids such as this.