Editing Museum of Jurassic Technology (section)

==Overview==
The museum contains an unusual collection of exhibits and objects with varying and uncertain degrees of authenticity. ''[[The New York Times]]'' critic [[Edward Rothstein]] described it as a "museum about museums", "where the persistent question is: what kind of place is this?"<ref name="Rothstein"/>  ''[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]]'' magazine called it "a witty, self-conscious homage to private museums of yore . . . when natural history was only barely charted by science, and museums were closer to Renaissance cabinets of curiosity."<ref name="Perrottet"/> In a similar vein, ''[[The Economist]]'' said the museum "captures a time chronicled in [[Richard Holmes (biographer)|Richard Holmes]]'s recent book ''[[The Age of Wonder]]'', when science mingled with poetry in its pursuit of answers to life's mysterious questions."<ref>[http://www.economist.com/node/14397777 "A cabinet of wonder: A Los Angeles museum filled with curio and mystery"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140505000044/http://www.economist.com/node/14397777 |date=2014-05-05 }}, ''[[The Economist]]'', September 10, 2009.</ref>

[[Lawrence Weschler]]'s 1995 book, ''[[Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder|Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder: Pronged Ants, Horned Humans, Mice on Toast, And Other Marvels of Jurassic Technology]]'', attempts to explain the mystery of the Museum of Jurassic Technology. Weschler deeply explores the museum through conversations with its founder, [[David Hildebrand Wilson|David Wilson]], and through outside research on several exhibitions. His investigations into the history of certain exhibits led to varying results of authenticity; some exhibits seem to have been created by Wilson's imagination while other exhibits might be suitable for display in a natural history museum. The Museum of Jurassic Technology at its heart, according to Wilson, is "a museum interested in presenting phenomena that other natural history museums are unwilling to present."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Weschler|first1=Lawrence|title=Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder: Pronged Ants, Horned Humans, Mice on Toast, And Other Marvels of Jurassic Technology|date=1995|publisher=Random House|location=New York}}</ref>

The museum's introductory slideshow recounts that "In its original sense, the term, 'museum' meant 'a spot dedicated to the Muses, a place where man's mind could attain a mood of aloofness above everyday affairs'". In this spirit, the dimly lit atmosphere, wood and glass vitrines, and labyrinthine floorplan lead visitors through an eclectic range of exhibits on art, natural history, [[history of science]], philosophy, and anthropology, with a special focus on the history of museums and the variety of paths to knowledge. The museum attracts approximately 25,000 visitors per year.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-museum-of-jurassic-technology-160774366/|title=The Museum of Jurassic Technology|last=Perrottet|first=Tony|work=Smithsonian|access-date=2018-09-27|language=en|archive-date=2018-09-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180928044023/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-museum-of-jurassic-technology-160774366/|url-status=live}}</ref>