Abstract
THE many friends of Colonel E. E. B. Mackintosh will learn with regret of his retirement from the position of director and secretary of the Science Museum on November 30, on reaching the age limit. He has held this position with distinction since 1933, when he took over the directorship from Sir Henry Lyons, soon after the latter had successfully launched the Children's Gallery and introduced the idea of special exhibitions. He extended and developed both these features, and by 1939 had succeeded in evolving an attractive and fascinating gallery, specially designed and arranged for the younger visitors, and providing a most instructive elementary introduction to many branches of science. He has explored the possibilities of different types of special exhibition, and for a number of years has devoted one of the main galleries of the Museum entirely to this purpose. During the period 1933–39, some thirty-five special exhibitions were held in the Museum, not a few of which met with outstanding success, and there is no doubt that the policy of holding these special exhibitions has been well justified. Under Colonel Mackintosh's direction, the Science Museum continued to maintain and even to improve its position in the forefront of the national museums and galleries of Britain, until the War necessitated its closure. The main task of the Museum at this time was to ensure the safety of its contents—objects, archives and records alike—and Colonel Mackintosh succeeded in dispersing approximately two thirds of the collection, together with more than 100,000 volumes from the Science Library, to thirty isolated country houses. A selection of these possessions is now being brought back to London, in preparation for the partial reopening of the Museum. Colonel Mackintosh will have the good wishes of his many friends in his well-earned retirement.
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Science Museum: Retirement of Col. E. E. B. Mackintosh. Nature 156, 658 (1945). https://doi.org/10.1038/156658b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/156658b0