| Description |
xii, 353 pages, 24 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps, portraits, charts, genealogical tables, photographs ; 24 cm |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Contents |
Bitten by the snake of learning -- John Ray and the cunning craftsmanship of nature -- A momentous decision -- Continental journey: the low countries -- Images of central Europe -- Italian sophistication and Spanish desolation -- Back at Middleton -- Curious about birds: illness and death -- Into the light: publication -- A sustained finale: Willughby's buzzard takes flight. |
| Summary |
Francis Willughby lived and thrived in the midst of the rapidly accelerating scientific revolution of the seventeenth century. Traveling with his Cambridge tutor John Ray, they decided to overhaul the whole of natural history by imposing order on its messiness and complexity. It was exhilarating, exacting, and exhausting work. Yet before their first book, Ornithology, could be completed, Willughby died in 1672. Since then, Ray's reputation has grown, obscuring that of his collaborator. Now, for the first time, Willughby's story and genius are given the attention they deserve. In his too-short life, Francis Willughby helped found the Royal Society, differentiated birds through identification of their distinguishing features, and asked questions that were, in some cases, centuries ahead of their time. |
| Subject |
Willughby, Francis, 1635-1672.
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| Subject(S) |
Ornithologists -- England -- Biography.
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Naturalists -- England -- Biography.
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Biographies.
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| ISBN |
9781408878484 (hardcover) |
|
1408878488 (hardcover) |
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9781408878491 (paperback) |
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1408878496 (paperback) |
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