Description
Book SynopsisThe broader social context in which scientists work is just as important to the project of naming, describing, classifying, and, ultimately, explaining life.
Trade ReviewFor those with an interest in the history of natural history. -- Ian Paulsen, GrrlScientist Guardian A very readable account of the long-lived naturalist/entomologist Karl Jordan (1861-1959). Choice Any college-level natural history holding will find this enlightening. Midwest Book Review Karl Jordan's innovative methods of classifying insect species are highlighted in this biography of the early 20th century entomologist. Science News Ordering Life, by Kristin Johnson, is one part biography to three parts history and philosophy of science. 'Jordan serves as a useful guide', Johnson writes, 'not only to understanding how knowledge about biodiversity is obtained but how the answer to that question has changed over time and why'. -- Louise Fabiani Times Literary Supplement There are layers of richness in Johnson's book and readers will doubtless draw their own conclusions for Johnson's pleasong style leads the reader by means of historical narrtive rather than proselytization. -- Malcolm J. Scoble Biological Journal of the Linnean Society
Table of ContentsIntroduction
1. Joining the Naturalist Tradition
"Beetles. Beautiful beetles"
Becoming a Zoologist
The Cosmopolitan Naturalists
The "nice berth": Curating a Zoological Museum
Mobilizing the Naturalist Tradition
2. Reforming Entomology
The "strange mixture" of Entomologists
How to Do Entomology
The "making" of Species
A New Type of Collection
Retraining the Natural History Network
3. Ordering Beetles, Butterflies, and Moths
"The great desideratum"
Revising the Swallowtails
Making Systematics Scientific
Crossing over to Biology
Amassing the Concreta
4. Ordering Naturalists
Men of Two Classes
Organizing Entomologists
The End of Tring's Heyday
"Science knows no country"
A "nation of Entomologists"
5. A Descent into Disorder
Telling "which way the wind blows"
The Balance of Europe Is Upset
The Standstill
Recovering Friends, Committees, and Congresses I
"The requirements for a thorough investigation"
Taxonomy in a Changed World
The Rise of Applied Entomology
The Rise of Applied Entomology
Various Utopias I: The Ithaca Congress
Various Utopias II: The International Entomological Institute
A Lad's Last Marble
7. The Ruin of War and the Synthesis of Biology
The Edges of Empire
Where Subspecies Meet
"The end of Tring as we have known and cherished it"
"Provided Europe does not get quite mad"
"Without the collection I am hopeless"
8. Naturalists in a New Landscape
Recovering Friends, Committees, and Congresses II
The Quest to "clear up the chaos" in Weevils and Fleas
Avoiding the Snake in the Grass
Glorified Office Boys
Late for a Knighthood
Conclusion
Acknowledgments
