John E. Simmons (BA, Systematics & Ecology; MA, Museum Studies) has worked in museums for more than 50 years. He began his career as a zoo keeper before becoming collections manager at the California Academy of Sciences and later at the Natural History Museum at the University of Kansas, where he also served as Director of the Museum Studies Program until 2007. He is the recipient of the Superior Voluntary Service Award from the American Association of Museums (2001), the Chancellor's Award for Outstanding Mentoring of Graduate Students from the University of Kansas (2005), the Carolyn L. Rose Award for Outstanding Commitment to Natural History Collections and Management from the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections (2011), the Dudley-Wilkinson Award of Distinction from the Registrars Committee of the American Alliance of Museums (2016), and the Spiritus Award for Excellence in Service and Management of Herpetological and Ichthyological Collections from American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists (2019). John has published more than 150 papers and several books, including Cuidado, Manejo y Conservación de las Colecciones Biológicas (2005, with Yaneth Munoz-Saba), Fluid Preservation: A Comprehensive Reference (2014), Foundations of Museum Studies: Evolving Systems of Knowledge (2014, with Kiersten Latham), Herpetological Collecting and Collections Management (3rd edition, 2015), Museums: A History (2016), Things Great and Small: Collections Management Policies (2nd edition, 2017), the chapter on "Collections Management: History, Theory, and Practice" in The International Handbook of Museum Studies (2015), Best Practices in the Preservation and Management of Fluid-Preserved Biological Collections (with Dirk Neumann, Julian Carter, and Oliver Crimmen), and he edited the 6th edition of Museum Registration Methods in 2020 (with Toni Kiser). John's research interests include the conservation of natural history and anatomical specimens, the history of museums, and the development of sustainable collections management practices. John currently runs Museologica museum consulting and teaches museology workshops and university classes.

Chapter 1. What is a Collection? What is a Museum?
Chapter 2. Hoards and Tombs?Collections in the Ancient World (to 700 BCE)
Chapter 3. The Temple of the Muses-the Conjunction of Objects and Knowledge (Classical Antiquity, 700 BCE to CE 400)
Chapter 4. The Power of Objects?Medieval Collections (400 to 1400)
Chapter 5. Of Cabinets and Kings?Renaissance Collections (1400 to 1600)
Chapter 6. The Museum Enlightened-1600 to 1800
Chapter 7. Emergence of the Modern Museum-1800 to 1900
Chapter 8. Museums in a World Gone Awry-1900 to 1970
Chapter 9. Learning to Read Objects (Again)-the Post-Postmodern Museum