Description
Book SynopsisFrancis Willughby together with John Ray revolutionized the study of natural history. They were motivated by the new philosophy of the mid 1600s and transformed natural history in to a rigorous area of study. Because Ray lived longer and more of his writings have survived, his reputation subsequently eclipsed that of Willughby. Now, with access to previously unexplored archives and new discoveries we are able to provide a comprehensive evaluation of Francis Willughby’s life and works. What emerges is a polymath, a true virtuoso, who made original and imaginative contributions to mathematics, chemistry, linguistics as well as natural history. We use Willughby’s short life as a lens through which to view the entire process of seventeenth-century scientific endeavor. Contributors are Tim Birkhead, Isabelle Charmantier, David Cram, Meghan Doherty, Mark Greengrass, Daisy Hildyard, Dorothy Johnston, Sachiko Kusukawa, Brian Ogilvie, William Poole, Chris Preston, Anna Marie Roos, Richard Serjeantson, Paul J. Smith and Benjamin Wardhaugh.
Trade Review[this] ]volume [...] provides us with an exemplary view of a figure [of Francis Willughby] whose wide-ranging significance is at last becoming clear. - Michael Hunter, Birkbeck, University of London, EHR, CXXXIII. 564, October. 2018, 1314-1316, doi:10.1093/ehr/cey215 It [the work] is a very worthy validation of a neglected and misunderstood scientist. - William Noblett, Archives of Natural History 45.1 (2018): pp. 184-185 (DOI: 10.3366/anh.2018.0503)
Table of ContentsForeword by Michael Willoughby, Lord Middleton xi Preface xii Acknowledgements xvi List of Figures and Maps xix List of Abbreviations xxiii List of Contributors xxiv 1. The Life and Domestic Context of Francis Willughby 1 Dorothy Johnston 2. The Education of Francis Willughby 44 Richard Serjeantson 3. The Chymistry of Francis Willughby (1635–72): The Trinity College, Cambridge Community 99 Anna Marie Roos 4. Willughby’s Mathematics 122 Benjamin Wardhaugh 5 Science on the Move: Francis Willughby’s Expeditions 142 Mark Greengrass, Daisy Hildyard, Christopher D. Preston, and Paul J. Smith 6 The Willughby Library in the Time of Francis the Naturalist 227 William Poole 7. Francis Willughby and John Ray on Words and Things 244 David Cram 8. Willughby’s Ornithology 268 Tim R. Birkhead, Paul J. Smith, Meghan Doherty, and Isabelle Charmantier 9. Historia Piscium (1686) and Its Sources 305 Sachiko Kusukawa 10. Willughby on Insects 335 Brian W. Ogilvie 11. The Legacies of Francis Willughby 360 Isabelle Charmantier, Dorothy Johnston, and Paul J. Smith Bibliography 387 Index 419
