Try Yourself!

Abstract In 1928, a handbook on natural history collecting was published as part of a series of popular books on scientific experimentation. The “Försök själv” series addressed young people and positioned itself deliberately between textbooks and popular science publications. In this paper, I examine how collecting was recast as experiment in the context of the “Försök själv” series. It is situated in the intersection between the history of scientific publication and the history of collecting as pedagogical practice. It highlights a moment in science pedagogy when the rationales and practices of collecting were changing. It draws attention to the role of handbooks between teachers and objects, and between field, class-room, and laboratory. As publications, the “Försök själv” books straddle the boundary between textbooks and popular science. As handbooks they draw together books, things, and practices.