Mr. Jefferson and the giant moose
Subtitle: natural history in early America
By: Lee Alan Dugatkin.
Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
Published: 2009
Place of publication: Chicago; London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 166
ISBN-13: 9780226169149
Subjects: Jefferson, Thomas, -- 1743-1826 -- Knowledge and learning; Buffon, Georges Louis Leclerc, -- comte de, -- 1707-1788 -- Attitudes; Degeneration -- Environmental aspects -- America -- Historiography -- 18th century; Human beings -- Effect of environment on -- America; Life sciences -- History -- 18th century
Description: Capturing the essence of the origin and evolution of the so-called "degeneracy debates," over whether the flora and fauna of America (including Native Americans) were naturally weaker and feebler than species elsewhere in the world, this book chronicles Thomas Jefferson's efforts to counter French conceptions of American degeneracy, culminating in his sending of a stuffed moose to Buffon.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Contents
pagenum: 8; title: "A Moose More Precious Than You Can Imagine"
pagenum: 10; label: 1
title: "Dictatorial Powers of the Botanical Gentleman of Europe"
pagenum: 14; label: 2
title: The Count's Degenerate America
pagenum: 23; label: 3
title: "Noxious Vapors and Corrupt Juices"
pagenum: 44; label: 4
title: "Mot a Spring of Grass That Shoots Uninteresting"
pagenum: 60; label: 5
title: "Geniuses Which Adorn the Present Age"
pagenum: 75; label: 6
title: Enter the Moose
pagenum: 94; label: 7
title: Thirty-Seven_Pound Frogs and Patagonian Giants
pagenum: 114; label: 8
title: Extracting the "Tapeworm of Europe" from Our Brain
pagenum: 130; title: Acknowledgments
pagenum: 144; title: Notes
pagenum: 146; title: Reference List
pagenum: 166; title: Index
pagenum: 172