Overview

Two hundred and fifty years ago, the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus set out to order and name the entire living world and ended up founding a science: the field of scientific classification, or taxonomy. Yet, in spite of Linnaeus's pioneering work and the genius of those who followed him, from Darwin to E. O. Wilson, taxonomy went from being revered as one of the most significant of intellectual pursuits to being largely ignored. Today, taxonomy is viewed by many as an outdated field, one nearly irrelevant to the rest of science and of even less interest to the rest of the world. Now, as Carol Kaesuk Yoon, biologist and longtime science writer for the New York Times, reminds us in Naming Nature, taxonomy is critically important, because it turns out to be much more than mere science. It is also the latest incarnation of a long-unrecognized human practice that has gone on across the globe, in every culture, in every language since before time: the deeply human act of ordering and naming the living world. In Naming Nature, Yoon takes us on a guided tour of science's brilliant, if sometimes misguided, attempts to order and name the overwhelming diversity of earth's living things. We follow a trail of scattered clues that reveals taxonomy's real origins in humanity's distant past. Yoon's journey brings us from New Guinea tribesmen who call a giant bird a mammal to the trials and tribulations of patients with a curious form of brain damage that causes them to be unable to distinguish among living things. Finally, Yoon shows us how the reclaiming of taxonomy—a renewed interest in learning the kinds and names of things around us—will rekindle humanity's dwindling connection with wild nature. Naming Nature has much to tell us, not only about how scientists create a science but also about how the progress of science can alter the expression of our own human nature.

Full Product Details

9780393338713

Table of Contents

Reviews

...this is an inspiring and unputdownable read. BBC Wildlife ...a compelling account of how... the human brain is programmed to order and make sense of the natural world and prone to react badly when that order is challenged.A Jennie Erin Smith, The Times Literary Supplement ...began life as a paean to the work of the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus, who invented the science of classification, or taxonomy. It ended up being something much more profound, however, as Carol Kaesuk Yoon came to believe that taxonomy is 'no ordinary science'. New Statesman A lively blend of popular scientific history and cultural criticism. The New York Times Book Review The author has an engaging anecdotal style, making this an intriguing read for anyone who wants a basic understanding of the story of why and how we name organisms. Birdwatch ...a compelling account... The Times Literary Supplement

A beautiful riddle of a book. Impossible to put down. Starred Review: Superb. A sensuous delight to read. Starred Review: Optimistic, exhilarating, and revolutionary. Bracing and brilliant. Ingenious ... compelling.

Evolutionary biologist Carol Kaesuk Yoon makes the case for looking, touching, listening, making our own imperfect sense of the marvels that surround us. Like Darwin, Yoon can find the beauty in a barnacle, and her book-lush with biology, biography, and folklore-is a sensuous delight to read. -- Cathleen Medwick

A beautiful riddle of a book. -- Time Out New York Impossible to put down. -- Booklist Starred Review: Superb. -- Kirkus Reviews A sensuous delight to read. -- O, The Oprah Magazine Starred Review: Optimistic, exhilarating, and revolutionary. -- Publishers Weekly Bracing and brilliant. -- Boston Globe Ingenious ... compelling. -- San Francisco Chronicle

Author Information

Carol Kaesuk Yoon received her Ph.D. PhD in ecology and evolutionary biology from Cornell University and has been writing about biology for The New York Times since 1992. Her articles have also appeared in Science, The Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times. Dr. Yoon has taught writing as a Visiting Scholar at Cornell University’s John S. Knight Writing Program, working with professors to help teach critical thinking in biology classes. She has also served as a science education consultant to Microsoft. She lives in Bellingham, Washington.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available