Matskási István (szerk.): A Magyar Természettudományi Múzeum évkönyve 100. (Budapest 2008)

Matskási, I. ; Vásárhelyi, T.: Celebrating the 100th volume of the Hungarian Natural History Museum’s yearbook

ANNALES HISTORICO-NATURALES MUSEI NATIONALIS HUNGARICI Volume 100 Budapest, 2008 pp. 5-16. Celebrating the 100

th volume of the Hungarian Natural History Museum's yearbook I. MATSKÁSI & T. VÁSÁRHELYI Hungarian Natural History Museum, H1088 Budapest, Baross utca 13, Hungary E-mail: matskasi@nhmus.hu, vasarhe@nhmus.hu Abstract - The history of the journal Annales historico-naturales Musei nationalis hungarici is given briefly on the occasion of the 100" volume. With 4 figures. Key words -Annales historico-naturales Musei nationalis hungarici, history, 100

th volume. Now when celebrating the 100

th volume, the publisher of the Annales Historico-Naturales Musei Nationalis Hungarici has the honour to welcome the reader on behalf of the Hungarian Natural History Museum. The total of a hundred volumes published so far encompass the rough-and-tumble 20

th century and take us all the way to our time, the 2P

t century. The yearbook is a mirror. A mirror of the time-honoured, more than two-hundredyear old Museum's activity, but also a mirror of natural sciences' advancement in the past 100 years. The yearbook offers a true reflection of traditions and progress. As it will become obvious later on, the 1903 volume of the Annales was not without precedents. In terms of the yearbook's spirit and content, the Editor of the first volume had already a treasury of nearly 25 years' experience to fall back on. Even if we consider what we know today, the publications of the first few years are authoritative and of a reliable and lasting scientific value and significance that goes far beyond the confines of Eastern-Central Europe. These articles meet the main criterion of natural sciences, namely: No idea can be regarded as novel unless it can enrich the whole world with some undoubtedly new discovery or piece of knowledge.