January 22, 2024
This enlightening history by science writer Roberts (A Sense of the World) explores research conducted by 18th-century naturalists Carl Linnaeus and George-Louis Leclerc de Buffon, who competed against “each other to complete a comprehensive accounting of life on Earth.” Roberts skillfully describes the methodological, philosophical, and political differences between the two, explaining that Linnaeus’s Christian faith led him to believe that species were fixed and created divinely, while Buffon embraced more heretical ideas, which led him to propose a rudimentary understanding of evolution and face “formal charges of blasphemy for suggesting the Earth might be older than Scripture indicated.” Despite the subtitle, there’s not much in the way of swashbuckling adventures to distant lands in search of unknown species (Linnaeus and Buffon acquired their specimens largely by purchasing them from other collectors or dispatching to foreign countries acolytes who sometimes died of disease). Instead, Roberts provides a thorough accounting of the divergent outlooks of his dual subjects and offers illuminating insight into how politics secured Linnaeus’s legacy while consigning Buffon to relative obscurity. (During the French Revolution, followers of Linnaeus took advantage of Buffon’s inherited status as a count and connections to King Louis XVI, who contributed funding to Buffon’s research, to pillory the naturalist as part of the ancíen régíme.) The result is an enthralling look at a pivotal period in the history of biology. Photos. Agent: Michael Carlisle, InkWell Management.
February 1, 2024
Personalities, the need for financial support, and politics can sway the pursuit of even the ""purest"" science. Here, Roberts profiles two scientists: famous Carl Linnaeus and little-known Georges-Louis de Buffon. Both men were born in 1707 and both were enthralled by biological taxonomy, but were extreme opposites in nearly every other way. Taxonomy is the science of categorizing animals and plants into groups and naming and describing them. Linnaeus wrote the influential Systema Naturae, which engendered an almost cult-like devotion long after his death. Roberts portrays Linnaeus as a self-promoter who penned four autobiographies and a racist and sexist who wouldn't allow his daughters to attend school. While he originated the system of binomial nomenclature (classifying organisms by genus and species), Linnaeus held some wacky beliefs (epilepsy is brought about by washing your hair). Buffon, meanwhile, is a revelation. A naturalist and author of the encyclopedic Histoire Naturelle, he's depicted as brilliant, philosophical, and profoundly aware of our connection with nature. This account of Buffon's many scientific contributions is noteworthy even if some readers may find this history of taxonomy, well, a tad taxing.
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Starred review from February 15, 2024
Exciting chronicle of the battle "to complete a comprehensive accounting of all life on Earth." Roberts, author of A Sense of the World, traces the lives and careers of two 18th-century naturalists whose opposing perspectives made them, and their followers, rivals: Carl Linnaeus, a misogynist self-promoter and holder of a "diploma-mill medical degree," invented binary nomenclature and a classification system that assigned plants and animals into kingdoms, classes, orders, families, and species. George-Louis de Buffon, an aristocratic natural historian in charge of France's royal gardens, saw the natural world as thrillingly complex. Linnaeus believed that life on Earth was unchanged from the moment of God's creation. "It was against faith," Roberts writes, "to envision new species coming into existence, or existing ones fading into extinction." De Buffon, on the other hand, believed all such systematic approaches were reductionist and flawed, and that of Linnaeus, "the least sensible and the most monstrous." Species, he posited, changed by adapting to their environments. Both men defended their views in widely read tracts: De Buffon's 35-volume Histoire Naturelle, G�n�rale et Particuliere reflected his own minute investigations; Linnaeus, author of continual revisions to his Systema Naturae, sent acolytes to conduct research in the field, where they sometimes perished. Because of his "easily grasped classification system," which included racist classifications of humans, Linnaeus prevailed, while de Buffon's reputation plummeted. Roberts examines the men's legacies as natural philosophy became science, and science branched into biology, zoology, and genetics. Linnaeus' systems were complicated by the discovery of microscopic life and blooming biodiversity; towering figures confronted the stark evidence of evolution. Among the scientists that feature in this well-populated narrative are George Cuvier, Darwin, Thomas Henry Huxley, Agassiz, Mendel, and Hugo de Vries, each confronting the controversy incited by Linnaeus and de Buffon. A lively, panoramic contribution to the history of science.
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