The Science of Describing: Natural History in Renaissance Europe
"In this beautifully illustrated, fascinating book, Brian Ogilvie shows how the natural sciences developed in a vigorous and quite different way to the experimentalism of the 'hard' sciences." - Adrian Barnett, New Scientist "Ogilvie shows that history has much to teach us.... [He] has done more than just write about the Renaissance science of describing; he has written the story of how science constantly reinvents itself, seen through the lens of the pre-Linnaeans." - Sandra Knapp, Nature "A book that... breaks with tradition even as it builds on it. Brian Ogilvie argues convincingly that we need to discard, once and for all, the idea that natural history remained largely static from the era of Aristotle until the birth of the modern world." - Jim Endersby, Times Literary Supplement"