Overview

"When Columbus first returned to Europe from the Caribbean, he presented King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella with exotic parrots, tropical flowers and bits of gold. The search for riches spurred Columbus and others to voyage the oceans with similar ambitions and these seafarers continued to return with mysterious specimens encountered in the New World. Curiosity began to percolate through Europe. The Church, long fearful of challenges to its authority, could no longer suppress the mantra ""Dare to know!"" Recounting the triumphs and mishaps of these explorers, Joyce Appleby's book follows the naturalists, both famous and obscure, whose investigations of the world's fauna and flora fuelled the rise of science and technology that propelled Western Europe towards modernity."

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9780393349795

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Reviews

Christopher Columbus s landing in the Western Hemisphere in 1492 marked a decisive moment in world history. But as Joyce Appleby argues in this lucid and economically written survey of scientific thought, its intellectual impact unfolded gradually. In riveting prose, she shows how American geography, peoples, flora, and fauna forced European scientists to alter their understanding of nature. Those interested in the intersection of exploration and scientific knowledge should book passage on Professor Appleby s charming, story-filled journey across the Atlantic and back again. --Peter Mancall, author of The Fatal Journey

Ranges across 400 years of history with characters from Christopher Columbus to Charles Darwin. Shores of Knowledge explains how the curiosity of Old Europe broke free of church dogma, creating the world we inhabit today. -- Moyers & Company A unique perspective... Appleby tells it through the contributions of an array of characters-explorers, writers, collectors and early naturalists- giving the reader a sense of the progress over the centuries as seen through their eyes. -- Marcia Bartusiak - Washington Post An ambitious book that covers the sweep of history from Columbus to Darwin-and finds unexpected kinship between explorers and scientists of those centuries... Fascinating! -- Mark Anderson, author of The Day the World Discovered the Sun An invigorating journey through time and space, shedding insight into the relationship between science and society. -- John Gribbin, author of Erwin Schrodinger and the Quantum Revolution Like an exotic seed washed up from a distant land, Joyce Appleby's Shores of Knowledge blossoms in marvelous ways. This supple and sparkling chronicle of discovery shows why even Columbus was baffled by his myriad discoveries, and how Europeans gradually decoded the mysteries of the New World. A lucid account of cultural transmission. -- Laurence Bergreen, author of Columbus Christopher Columbus's landing in the Western Hemisphere in 1492 marked a decisive moment in world history. But as Joyce Appleby argues in this lucid and economically written survey of scientific thought, its intellectual impact unfolded gradually. In riveting prose, she shows how American geography, peoples, flora, and fauna forced European scientists to alter their understanding of nature. Those interested in the intersection of exploration and scientific knowledge should book passage on Professor Appleby's charming, story-filled journey across the Atlantic and back again. -- Peter Mancall, author of The Fatal Journey

Ranges across 400 years of history with characters from Christopher Columbus to Charles Darwin. Shores of Knowledge explains how the curiosity of Old Europe broke free of church dogma, creating the world we inhabit today. A unique perspective... Appleby tells it through the contributions of an array of characters-explorers, writers, collectors and early naturalists- giving the reader a sense of the progress over the centuries as seen through their eyes. -- Marcia Bartusiak An ambitious book that covers the sweep of history from Columbus to Darwin-and finds unexpected kinship between explorers and scientists of those centuries... Fascinating! -- Mark Anderson, author of The Day the World Discovered the Sun An invigorating journey through time and space, shedding insight into the relationship between science and society. -- John Gribbin, author of Erwin Schrodinger and the Quantum Revolution Like an exotic seed washed up from a distant land, Joyce Appleby's Shores of Knowledge blossoms in marvelous ways. This supple and sparkling chronicle of discovery shows why even Columbus was baffled by his myriad discoveries, and how Europeans gradually decoded the mysteries of the New World. A lucid account of cultural transmission. -- Laurence Bergreen, author of Columbus Christopher Columbus's landing in the Western Hemisphere in 1492 marked a decisive moment in world history. But as Joyce Appleby argues in this lucid and economically written survey of scientific thought, its intellectual impact unfolded gradually. In riveting prose, she shows how American geography, peoples, flora, and fauna forced European scientists to alter their understanding of nature. Those interested in the intersection of exploration and scientific knowledge should book passage on Professor Appleby's charming, story-filled journey across the Atlantic and back again. -- Peter Mancall, author of The Fatal Journey

"""Ranges across 400 years of history with characters from Christopher Columbus to Charles Darwin. Shores of Knowledge explains how the curiosity of Old Europe broke free of church dogma, creating the world we inhabit today."" -- Moyers & Company ""A unique perspective... Appleby tells it through the contributions of an array of characters-explorers, writers, collectors and early naturalists- giving the reader a sense of the progress over the centuries as seen through their eyes."" -- Marcia Bartusiak - Washington Post ""An ambitious book that covers the sweep of history from Columbus to Darwin-and finds unexpected kinship between explorers and scientists of those centuries... Fascinating!"" -- Mark Anderson, author of The Day the World Discovered the Sun ""An invigorating journey through time and space, shedding insight into the relationship between science and society."" -- John Gribbin, author of Erwin Schrodinger and the Quantum Revolution ""Like an exotic seed washed up from a distant land, Joyce Appleby's Shores of Knowledge blossoms in marvelous ways. This supple and sparkling chronicle of discovery shows why even Columbus was baffled by his myriad discoveries, and how Europeans gradually decoded the mysteries of the New World. A lucid account of cultural transmission."" -- Laurence Bergreen, author of Columbus ""Christopher Columbus's landing in the Western Hemisphere in 1492 marked a decisive moment in world history. But as Joyce Appleby argues in this lucid and economically written survey of scientific thought, its intellectual impact unfolded gradually. In riveting prose, she shows how American geography, peoples, flora, and fauna forced European scientists to alter their understanding of nature. Those interested in the intersection of exploration and scientific knowledge should book passage on Professor Appleby's charming, story-filled journey across the Atlantic and back again."" -- Peter Mancall, author of The Fatal Journey"

Author Information

Joyce Appleby is a professor of history emerita at UCLA and the author of The Relentless Revolution: A History of Capitalism and coauthor of Telling the Truth about History, among many other works. A former president of the American History Association, she was awarded the 2009 Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. Prize for distinguished writing in American history from the Society of American Historians. She lives in Taos, New Mexico.

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