| Edition |
First edition. |
| Description |
xiv, 407 pages : illustrations, portraits ; 25 cm |
|
text txt rdacontent |
|
still image sti rdacontent |
|
unmediated n rdamedia |
|
volume nc rdacarrier |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Summary |
"In the 18th century, two men dedicated their lives to the same daunting task: identifying and describing all life on Earth. Their approaches could not have been more different. Carl Linnaeus, a pious Swedish doctor with a huckster's flair, believed that life belonged in tidy, static categories. Georges-Louis de Buffon, an aristocratic polymath and keeper of France's royal garden, viewed life as a dynamic swirl of complexities. Both began believing their work to be difficult, but not impossible--how could the planet possibly hold more than a few thousand species? Stunned by life's diversity, both fell far short of their goal. But in the process they articulated starkly divergent views on nature, on humanity's role in shaping the fate of our planet, and on humanity itself. The rivalry between these two unique, driven individuals created reverberations that still echo today. Linnaeus, with the help of acolyte explorers he called "apostles" (only half of whom returned alive), gave the world such concepts as mammal, primate and homo sapiens--but he also denied species change and promulgated racist pseudo-science. Buffon coined the term reproduction, formulated early prototypes of evolution and genetics, and argued passionately against prejudice. It was a clash that, during their lifetimes, Buffon seemed to be winning. But their posthumous fates would take a very different turn"-- Provided by publisher. |
| Contents |
Introduction. Savants -- Prelude. The mask and the veil -- Part I. The great chain of being. Of the Linden tree ; A course in starvation ; The salt-keeper's son ; Vegetable lambs and barnacle trees ; Several bridegrooms, several brides ; The greater gift of patience ; Now in blame, now in honor ; The seven-headed hydra of Hamburg ; An abridgment of the world entire ; Loathsome harlotry ; The quarrel of the universals -- Part II. This prodigious multitude. Goldfish for the queen ; Covering myself in dust and ashes ; The only prize available ; Durable and even eternal ; Baobab-zu-zu ; So many new and unknown parts ; Governed by laws, governed by whim ; A general prototype ; Breaking the lens ; My cold years ; The price of time -- Part III. God's registrar. Germinal, floreal, thermidor, messidor ; Transformism and castastrophism ; Platypus ; Laughably like mine ; The rhymes of the universe ; Most human of humans ; A large web or rather a network. |
| Subject |
Linné, Carl von, 1707-1778.
|
|
Buffon, Georges Louis Leclerc, comte de, 1707-1788.
|
|
Biology -- Classification -- History -- 18th century.
|
| Added Title |
Great and deadly race to know all life |
| ISBN |
9781984855206 hardcover : $35.00 |
|
1984855204 hardcover |
|
