The Society for the History of Natural History
The Society for the History of Natural History is a friendly international society for everyone who is interested in natural history in the broadest sense. This includes botany, zoology and geology as well as natural history collections, exploration, art and bibliography. Everyone with an interest in these subjects – professional or amateur – is welcome to join. For a brief history of the society, click here.
SHNH is known for its friendliness and provides a focal point for the history of all aspects of natural history. It has a thriving international membership and regional representatives organise local meetings. An international meeting is held at regular intervals, the next being in the United States in November. A number of meetings and events are scheduled for 2012 so do visit the Meetings and Events pages for more information. Of especial interest will be our Spring Meeting at the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge on "The natural history of the Terra Nova".
The Society's main publication is Archives of natural history, produced twice a year, and distributed free to all members. It contains refereed, illustrated papers and book reviews and is published for the Society by Edinburgh University Press. All volumes published from 1936 are now available online.
From time to time, the Society also publishes other works of interest. To celebrate SHNH's 75th anniversary in 2011, we published History and mystery, an anthology of the most interesting, bizarre and entertaining notes and queries from the Society's newsletters. Other publications include: Darwin in the Archives and A Century of Discovery.
An informal Newsletter is produced three times a year and distributed free to members. It contains details of forthcoming meetings, news of other events, a lively Notes & Queries section, members’ news and new publications.
On this site you will find information about the Society, its activities, publications and how to join us. You will also find news and up-to-date information as well as links to useful resources and further information.
Message from SHNH President Geoff Moore December 2011
Our URL is www.shnh.org.uk
Latest News
Wednesday 08. of June 2011 SHNH - Society for the History of Natural History announces new award at its AGM - The Patron's Review
The President of SHNH - Society for the History of Naural History, Professor Geoff Moore, is delighted to announce a new award, The Patron’s Review. A Council initiative and in association with the Society's patron Sir...
Tuesday 07. of June 2011 SHNH – Society for the History of Natural History AGM and Spring Meeting 2011. President’s Report
The SHNH – Society for the History of Natural History AGM 2011 was held on Friday 20th May during the enjoyable meeting on ‘From Royal Gifts to Biodiversity Conservation: The History and Development of Menageries, Zoos and...
Monday 23. of May 2011 Report on the meeting "From Royal gifts to biodiversity conservation, the history and development of Menageries, Zoos and Aquariums" held at Chester Zoo
This joint meeting “From Royal gifts to biodiversity conservation, the history and development of Menageries, Zoos and Aquariums”was a truly international event with 48 delegates from 9 countries representing or speaking about 30...


