| The scientific side of identity and identification is viewed through Francis Galton, anthropometrist and eugenicist, and Alec Jeffreys, pioneer of DNA profiling – two leading British scientists separated by 100 years. As well as their medals, papers and apparatus, we have the juvenilia and trivia that round them out as human beings, from the will that galton wrote at the age of eight when sent away to boarding school to Jeffreys' cycling proficiency certificate. Some reviewers’ comments: ‘Conceptual art with a concept for once’ Sir Christopher Frayling, Saturday Review, Radio 4 ‘Identity is like a Time-Life book made real ... there are times when the issues and topics let up, and the exhibits stop being a piece of evidence, and become simply a thing to astonish’ Independent ‘Drawing on assorted, often extraordinary and always fascinating, memorabilia from a number of collections, both public and private, this exhibition assembles everything from notebooks, diaries, drawings and photographs to scientific objects, models, letters and plastercasts. It creates a show that challenges us to examine what determines our sense of identity’ Times ‘illuminating stuff’ Observer |
