Musée zoologique de Strasbourg

This guide to the Musee zoologique de Strasbourg turns on a problem that dogged nineteenth-century natural history collections: jellyfish and other soft sea creatures dissolved into shapeless blobs within weeks of preservation in alcohol. It follows Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka, a Bohemian father-and-son glassworking team, as they attempt something that should not have worked, rebuilding these fragile creatures out of glass instead. You'll hear how their models spread to museums worldwide before anyone could photograph a living octopus, and how the city's own collection began in 1804 with the purchase of naturalist Johann Hermann's private cabinet. Look for the nineteen Blaschka pieces among the cases around you.