Description
Book Synopsis"This beautifully written book has the verve of an adventure story." —
Wall Street JournalTrade Review"An anecdotal romp through the strange history of naturalism. Absurd characters, exciting discoveries, and fierce rivalries abound." -- Outside Magazine
"An enduring story bursting at the seams with intriguing, fantastical and disturbing anecdotes." -- New Scientist
"[Conniff] chronicles two centuries of adventure, and at the same time illustrates important developments in human thought." -- Christian Science Monitor
"A swashbuckling romp…brilliantly evokes that just-before Darwin era." -- BBC Focus
"[This] history of the ‘great age of discovery’ is spellbinding." -- Publishers Weekly
"[Conniff’s] enthusiasm for his subject and admiration of these explorers is infectious…an entertaining survey." -- Kirkus Reviews
"Modern biology and medicine would not be what they are today if not for the death-defying naturalists who set out to travel the world and find new species. In
The Species Seekers, Richard Conniff creates a marvelous rogues’ gallery of these brave, sometimes reckless heroes of taxonomy, full of surprising tales of gorillas, platypuses, and disease-laden mosquitoes." -- Carl Zimmer, author of Parasite Rex
"A marvelous tribute to the age of wonder." -- Bernd Heinrich, author of White Feathers and Racing the Clock
