Description
By: Jason Roberts
An epic, extraordinary account of scientific rivalry and obsession in the quest to survey all of life on Earth—a competition whose consequences still reverberate today—from the bestselling author of A Sense of the World
“[A] vibrant scientific saga . . . at once important, outrageous, enlightening, entertaining, enduring, and still evolving.”—Dava Sobel, author of Longitude
In the eighteenth century, two men—exact contemporaries and polar opposites—dedicated their lives to the same daunting task: identifying and describing all life on Earth. Carl Linnaeus, a pious Swedish doctor with a huckster’s flair, believed that life belonged in tidy, static categories. Georges-Louis de Buffon, an aristocratic polymath and keeper of France’s royal garden, viewed life as a dynamic swirl of complexities. Each began his task believing it to be difficult but not impossible: How could the planet possibly hold more than a few thousand species—or as many could fit on Noah’s Ark?
Both fell far short of their goal, but in the process they articulated starkly divergent views on nature, the future of the Earth, and humanity itself. Linnaeus gave the world such concepts as mammal, primate, and Homo sapiens, but he also denied that species change and he promulgated racist pseudoscience. Buffon formulated early prototypes of evolution and genetics, warned of global climate change, and argued passionately against prejudice. The clash of their conflicting worldviews continued well after their deaths, as their successors contended for dominance in the emerging science that came to be called biology.
In Every Living Thing, Jason Roberts weaves a sweeping, unforgettable narrative spell, exploring the intertwined lives and legacies of Linnaeus and Buffon—as well as the groundbreaking, often fatal adventures of their acolytes—to trace an arc of insight and discovery that extends across three centuries into the present day.
An epic, extraordinary account of scientific rivalry and obsession in the quest to survey all of life on Earth—a competition whose consequences still reverberate today—from the bestselling author of A Sense of the World
“[A] vibrant scientific saga . . . at once important, outrageous, enlightening, entertaining, enduring, and still evolving.”—Dava Sobel, author of Longitude
In the eighteenth century, two men—exact contemporaries and polar opposites—dedicated their lives to the same daunting task: identifying and describing all life on Earth. Carl Linnaeus, a pious Swedish doctor with a huckster’s flair, believed that life belonged in tidy, static categories. Georges-Louis de Buffon, an aristocratic polymath and keeper of France’s royal garden, viewed life as a dynamic swirl of complexities. Each began his task believing it to be difficult but not impossible: How could the planet possibly hold more than a few thousand species—or as many could fit on Noah’s Ark?
Both fell far short of their goal, but in the process they articulated starkly divergent views on nature, the future of the Earth, and humanity itself. Linnaeus gave the world such concepts as mammal, primate, and Homo sapiens, but he also denied that species change and he promulgated racist pseudoscience. Buffon formulated early prototypes of evolution and genetics, warned of global climate change, and argued passionately against prejudice. The clash of their conflicting worldviews continued well after their deaths, as their successors contended for dominance in the emerging science that came to be called biology.
In Every Living Thing, Jason Roberts weaves a sweeping, unforgettable narrative spell, exploring the intertwined lives and legacies of Linnaeus and Buffon—as well as the groundbreaking, often fatal adventures of their acolytes—to trace an arc of insight and discovery that extends across three centuries into the present day.
You may also like
熱銷中 Top Trending
![Our Little Library: A Foundational Language Vocabulary Board Book Set (Volume I) (Tabitha Paige)-Nonfiction: 親子教養 Parenting-買書書 BuyBookBook](http://buybookbook.com/cdn/shop/files/OurLittleLibrary_1_{width}x.webp?v=1713022460)
![Our Little Library: A Foundational Language Vocabulary Board Book Set (Volume I) (Tabitha Paige)-Nonfiction: 親子教養 Parenting-買書書 BuyBookBook](http://buybookbook.com/cdn/shop/files/OurLittleLibrary_7_{width}x.webp?v=1713022465)
Our Little Library: A Foundational Language Vocabulary Board Book Set (Volume I) (Tabitha Paige)
Sale priceHK$197.00
Regular priceHK$300.00
In stock![Good Girl's Guide to Murder, A - The Collection (Holly Jackson)-Fiction: 偵探懸疑 Detective & Mystery-買書書 BuyBookBook](http://buybookbook.com/cdn/shop/products/HollyJacksonboxset_{width}x.jpg?v=1699218871)
Good Girl's Guide to Murder, A - The Collection (Holly Jackson)
Sale priceHK$159.00
Regular priceHK$323.60
In stock![Kensuke's Kingdom - Egmont Modern Classics (Paperback) (Michael Morpurgo) Harpercollins (UK)](http://buybookbook.com/cdn/shop/products/Kensuke_sKingdom-EgmontModernClassics_Paperback_{width}x.jpg?v=1633790093)
Kensuke's Kingdom - Egmont Modern Classics (Paperback) (Michael Morpurgo)
Sale priceHK$60.00
Regular priceHK$104.00
In stock![Science Comics: The Brain: The Ultimate Thinking Machine First Second](http://buybookbook.com/cdn/shop/products/Science-Comics-The-Brain-The-Ultimate-Thinking-Machine__Paperback_{width}x.jpg?v=1633779624)
![Science Comics: The Brain: The Ultimate Thinking Machine First Second](http://buybookbook.com/cdn/shop/products/01_c3eef8cd-8a8d-49b9-a3ae-5fb1124b8e40_{width}x.jpg?v=1633779625)
Science Comics: The Brain: The Ultimate Thinking Machine
Sale priceHK$85.00
Regular priceHK$117.00
In stock![Press Start! #10 Super Rabbit Boy’s Team-Up Trouble! (Branches) Scholastic](http://buybookbook.com/cdn/shop/products/PressStart10SuperRabbitBoysTeam-upTrouble_{width}x.jpg?v=1633789916)
Press Start! #10 Super Rabbit Boy’s Team-Up Trouble! (Branches)
Sale priceHK$33.00
Regular priceHK$54.00
In stock![Diary of a Wimpy Kid #10 Old School (Jeff Kinney) - 買書書 BuyBookBook](http://buybookbook.com/cdn/shop/products/DiaryofaWimpyKid_10OldSchool1_{width}x.jpg?v=1714858882)
![Diary of a Wimpy Kid #10 Old School (Jeff Kinney) - 買書書 BuyBookBook](http://buybookbook.com/cdn/shop/products/DiaryofaWimpyKid_10OldSchool5_{width}x.jpg?v=1662285755)
Diary of a Wimpy Kid #10 Old School (Jeff Kinney)
Sale priceFrom HK$51.00
Regular priceHK$59.90
In stock![Percy Jackson and the Olympians #6 The Chalice of the Gods (Rick Riordan)-Fiction: 神話傳說 Myth and Legend-買書書 BuyBookBook](http://buybookbook.com/cdn/shop/files/PercyJacksonandtheOlympians_6TheChaliceoftheGods_RickRiordan_{width}x.jpg?v=1714881796)
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Chalice of the Gods (International paperback edition)
Sale priceHK$89.00
Regular priceHK$140.00
In stock![Treasury of Songs, A (Book + CD) (Julia Donaldson) (Axel Scheffler) Macmillan UK](http://buybookbook.com/cdn/shop/products/ATreasuryofSongs_{width}x.jpg?v=1633783901)
Treasury of Songs, A (Book + CD) (Julia Donaldson) (Axel Scheffler)
Sale priceHK$85.00
Regular priceHK$129.00
In stock![Warriors - The New Prophecy Box Set (Paperback) (6 Books) (Erin Hunter) Harpercollins US](http://buybookbook.com/cdn/shop/products/Warriors-TheNewProphecyBoxSet_Paperback_6Books_1_{width}x.jpg?v=1633794366)
![Warriors - The New Prophecy Box Set (Paperback) (6 Books) (Erin Hunter) Harpercollins US](http://buybookbook.com/cdn/shop/products/Warriors-TheNewProphecyBoxSet_Paperback_6Books_{width}x.jpg?v=1633794367)
Warriors Series 2 The New Prophecy Collection (Paperback) (6 Books) (Erin Hunter)
Sale priceHK$329.00
Regular priceHK$539.00
In stock