Reading the Shape of Nature PDF
By:Mary P. Winsor
Published on 1991-11-15 by University of Chicago Press
Reading the Shape of Nature vividly recounts the turbulent early history of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard and the contrasting careers of its founder Louis Agassiz and his son Alexander. Through the story of this institution and the individuals who formed it, Mary P. Winsor explores the conflicting forces that shaped systematics in the second half of the nineteenth century. Debates over the philosophical foundations of classification, details of taxonomic research, the young institution's financial struggles, and the personalities of the men most deeply involved are all brought to life. In 1859, Louis Agassiz established the Museum of Comparative Zoology to house research on the ideal types that he believed were embodied in all living forms. Agassiz's vision arose from his insistence that the order inherent in the diversity of life reflected divine creation, not organic evolution. But the mortar of the new museum had scarcely dried when Darwin's Origin was published. By Louis Agassiz's death in 1873, even his former students, including his son Alexander, had defected to the evolutionist camp. Alexander, a self-made millionaire, succeeded his father as director and introduced a significantly different agenda for the museum. To trace Louis and Alexander's arguments and the style of science they established at the museum, Winsor uses many fascinating examples that even zoologists may find unfamiliar. The locus of all this activity, the museum building itself, tells its own story through a wonderful series of archival photographs.
This Book was ranked at 41 by Google Books for keyword Zoology.
Book ID of Reading the Shape of Nature's Books is w6vLeToUzHEC, Book which was written byMary P. Winsorhave ETAG "KifkDy0+zd0"
Book which was published by University of Chicago Press since 1991-11-15 have ISBNs, ISBN 13 Code is 9780226902159 and ISBN 10 Code is 0226902153
Reading Mode in Text Status is true and Reading Mode in Image Status is true
Book which have "324 Pages" is Printed at BOOK under CategoryScience
Book was written in en
eBook Version Availability Status at PDF is falseand in ePub is true
Book Preview
Download Reading the Shape of Nature PDF Free
Download Reading the Shape of Nature Books Free
Download Reading the Shape of Nature Free
Download Reading the Shape of Nature PDF
Download Reading the Shape of Nature Books
No comments:
Post a Comment