The Platypus and the Mermaid: And Other Figments of the Classifying Imagination
Most people can be divided into two groups: classifiers and nonclassifiers. Ritvo (history, MIT) brings order to the history of classifiers of the natural world. Looking primarily at 18th- and 19th-century Britain, she puts taxonomic, or classification, practices into their cultural context. Ritvo begins with a chapter on broad zoological classifications and their problems, followed by one on the history of zoological nomenclature?how and why we use the scientific names we use. The first two chapters are then placed in a wider context by chapters on hybrid animals, natural and unnatural monsters and abnormalities, and carnivorism. Ritvo's work is an insightful look at the development of English zoology and its strong ties to cultural context. As in her similar The Animal Estate (Harvard Univ., 1987), Ritvo rarely lapses into academic jargon. Recommended for larger public and academic libraries.?Eric D. Albright, Duke Medical Ctr. Lib., Durham, N.C.Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.