Description

Book Synopsis

The dramatic, globe-spanning and meticulously-researched story of two scientific rivals and their race to survey all life.

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, ever-changing 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 indiv

Every Living Thing

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    A Hardback by Jason Roberts

    £21.25

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    RRP £25.00 – you save £3.75 (15%)

    Order before 4pm today for delivery by Tue 25 Aug 2026.

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      Book details

      Publisher Quercus Publishing
      Published 1 November 2024
      ISBN-13 9781529400465
      978-1529400465
      ISBN-10 1529400465
      Also in:
      Science & Nature History of science

      Description

      Book Synopsis

      The dramatic, globe-spanning and meticulously-researched story of two scientific rivals and their race to survey all life.

      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, ever-changing 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 indiv

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