Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
  1. Home
  2. Books
  3. Worlds of Natural History
  • Cited by 23
      • Show more authors
      • You may already have access via personal or institutional login
    • Select format
    • Publisher:
      Cambridge University Press
      Publication date:
      13 December 2018
      22 November 2018
      ISBN:
      9781108225229
      9781316510315
      9781316649718
      DOI:
      https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108225229
      Dimensions:
      (246 x 189 mm)
      Weight & Pages:
      1.66kg, 700 Pages
      Dimensions:
      (246 x 189 mm)
      Weight & Pages:
      1.52kg, 700 Pages
      • Subjects:
      History of Science and Technology, History, History of Science: General Interest
    You may already have access via personal or institutional login
    • Selected: Digital
    Add to cart View cart Buy from Cambridge.org
    Subjects:
    History of Science and Technology, History, History of Science: General Interest
    Information

    Book description

    From Aztec accounts of hibernating hummingbirds to contemporary television spectaculars, human encounters with nature have long sparked wonder, curiosity and delight. Written by leading scholars, this richly illustrated volume offers a lively introduction to the history of natural history, from the sixteenth century to the present day. Covering an extraordinary range of topics, from curiosity cabinets and travelling menageries to modern seed banks and radio-tracked wildlife, this volume draws together the work of historians of science, of environment and of art, museum curators and literary scholars. The essays are framed by an introduction charting recent trends in the field and an epilogue outlining the prospects for the future. Accessible to newcomers and established specialists alike, Worlds of Natural History provides a much-needed perspective on current discussions of biodiversity and an enticing overview of an increasingly vital aspect of human history.

    Reviews

    ‘This massive, comprehensive, and extremely rich collection of essays features a stellar cast of contributors who have created a worthy sequel to Cultures of Natural History. From its elegant introduction to its colorful chapters and provocative afterword on the continuing vitality of natural history in the twenty-first century, this book fascinates and instructs. Dazzled by its contents, readers will have a difficult time deciding which compartment in this cabinet of curiosities to open first. This is scholarship in the history of science at its finest.'

    Bernard Lightman - Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, President of the History of Science Society, and York University

    ‘This volume offers a cornucopia of new approaches to writing the history of natural history from the Renaissance to today. With attention to shifting epistemologies and material cultures, it situates ancient traditions of collecting, classifying, and preserving nature in relation to the modern biological and earth sciences. In our present era of vanishing biological diversity, the authors consider the lessons of the past for the future of both elite and popular scientific institutions, from seed banks to museums and zoos.'

    Deborah R. Coen - Yale University, Connecticut

    ‘Worlds of Natural History comes as close as is humanly possible to living up to its title. The essays illuminate almost every aspect of the vast enterprise of natural history, from collecting, networking, and voyaging to preserving, image-making, and classifying. Its sites are as various as the Renaissance apothecary's shop and the contemporary genetics lab; its locales criss-cross the globe. This book crystallizes decades of historical scholarship, and is the single best introduction to the topic.'

    Lorraine Daston - Director, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin

    '… a rich snapshot of the current trends.'

    Aaron Van Neste Source: Annals of Science

    'The individual scholarly standards are matched by Cambridge University Press's production values and combine to make this volume testimony to the continuing vibrancy of natural history and its historical explication.'

    W. F. Bynum Source: Times Literary Supplement

    ‘… the essays collected here bring us closer to an understanding of how historians of science gain insights through trying to expand their perspectives, and search for continuities between the past and the present. This volume should become essential reading for both historians of science and all scholars keen to keep abreast of general historical debates about the environment, technology, globalisation, empire and exchange.’

    Sooyoung An Source: East Asian Science, Technology, and Medicine

    Refine List

    Actions for selected content:

    Select all | Deselect all
    • View selected items
    • Export citations
    • Download PDF (zip)
    • Save to Kindle
    • Save to Dropbox
    • Save to Google Drive

    Save Search

    You can save your searches here and later view and run them again in "My saved searches".

    Please provide a title, maximum of 40 characters.
    Cancel
    ×

    Contents

    Page 1 of 2

    Contents
    • 1 - Visions of ancient natural history
      pp 17-32
        • You have access
      • PDF
      • HTML
      • Export citation
    • 6 - Making monsters
      pp 94-111
        • You have access
      • PDF
      • HTML
      • Export citation

    Page 1 of 2

    Metrics

    Altmetric attention score

    Full text views

    Total number of HTML views: 0
    Total number of PDF views: 0 *
    Loading metrics...

    Book summary page views

    Total views: 0 *
    Loading metrics...

    * Views captured on Cambridge Core between #date#. This data will be updated every 24 hours.

    Usage data cannot currently be displayed.

    Accessibility standard: Unknown

    Why this information is here

    This section outlines the accessibility features of this content - including support for screen readers, full keyboard navigation and high-contrast display options. This may not be relevant for you.

    Accessibility Information

    Accessibility compliance for the HTML of this book is currently unknown and may be updated in the future.