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Cultures of Natural History
Contributor(s): Jardine, N. (Editor), Secord, J. a. (Editor), Spary, E. C. (Editor)
ISBN: 0521558948     ISBN-13: 9780521558945
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
OUR PRICE:   $62.69  
Product Type: Paperback
Published: January 1996
Qty:
Annotation: This copiously illustrated volume is the first systematic general work to do justice to the fruits of recent scholarship in the history of natural history. Public interest in this lively field has been stimulated by environmental concerns and through links with the histories of art, collecting and gardening. The centrality of the development of natural history for other branches of history - medical, colonial, gender, economic, ecological - is increasingly recognized. Twenty-four specially commissioned essays cover the period from the sixteenth century, when the first institutions of natural history were created, to its late nineteenth-century transformation by practitioners of the new biological sciences. An introduction discusses novel approaches that have made this a major focus for research in cultural history. The essays, which include suggestions for further reading, offer a coherent and accessible overview of a fascinating subject. An epilogue highlights the relevance of this wide-ranging survey for current debates on museum practice, the display of ecological diversity and concerns about the environment.
Additional Information
BISAC Categories:
- Nature
- Science | History
- History | Europe - General
Dewey: 508.09
LCCN: 94039445
Physical Information: 1.05" H x 7.44" W x 9.69" (2.04 lbs) 524 pages
 
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
Publisher Description:
This lavishly illustrated volume is the first systematic general work to do justice to the fruits of recent scholarship in the history of natural history. Public interest in this lively field has been stimulated by environmental concerns and through links with the histories of art, collecting and gardening. Twenty-four essays, written at an accessible level, cover the period from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century. The book includes suggestions for further reading, and highlights the relevance of history for current debates on museum practice, ecological diversity, and the environment.