LEADER 04365nam 2200697Ia 450 001 9910824155103321 005 20200520144314.0 010 $a1-283-07850-3 010 $a9786613078506 010 $a0-226-90208-0 024 7 $a10.7208/9780226902081 035 $a(CKB)2560000000071762 035 $a(EBL)680717 035 $a(OCoLC)713010303 035 $a(SSID)ssj0000472582 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)11302267 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000472582 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)10453297 035 $a(PQKB)10859942 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC680717 035 $a(DE-B1597)535468 035 $a(OCoLC)781359960 035 $a(DE-B1597)9780226902081 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL680717 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebr10464676 035 $a(CaONFJC)MIL307850 035 $a(EXLCZ)992560000000071762 100 $a19910201d1991 uy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aur|nu---|u||u 181 $ctxt 182 $cc 183 $acr 200 10$aReading the shape of nature $ecomparative zoology at the Agassiz Museum /$fMary P. Winsor 205 $a1st ed. 210 $aChicago $cUniversity of Chicago Press$d1991 215 $a1 online resource (345 p.) 225 1 $aScience and its conceptual foundations 300 $aDescription based upon print version of record. 311 $a0-226-90214-5 311 $a0-226-90215-3 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references and index. 327 $tFront matter --$tContents --$tIllustrations --$tPreface --$tAcknowledgments --$t1. "In the Prime of His Admirable Manhood" --$t2. "I Have Been Disappointed in My Collaborators" --$t3. "Our Work Must Be Done with Much More Precision" --$t4. "An Object Worthy of a Life's Devotion" --$t5. "The Many Plans Started by My Father" --$t6. "Shall We Say 'Ignorabimus: or Chase a Phantom?" --$t7. "The Slender Thread Is Practically Severed" --$t8. "Results Unattainable by Museum Study Alone" --$t9. "Collections Never of Use to Anyone" --$t10. "Dependent on the Personal Feelings of the Authors" --$t11. "I Made Up My Mind That Very Day to Be Director" --$tConcluding Remarks --$tNotes --$tBibliography --$tIndex 330 $aReading the Shape of Nature vividly recounts the turbulent early history of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard and the contrasting careers of its founder Louis Agassiz and his son Alexander. Through the story of this institution and the individuals who formed it, Mary P. Winsor explores the conflicting forces that shaped systematics in the second half of the nineteenth century. Debates over the philosophical foundations of classification, details of taxonomic research, the young institution's financial struggles, and the personalities of the men most deeply involved are all brought to life. In 1859, Louis Agassiz established the Museum of Comparative Zoology to house research on the ideal types that he believed were embodied in all living forms. Agassiz's vision arose from his insistence that the order inherent in the diversity of life reflected divine creation, not organic evolution. But the mortar of the new museum had scarcely dried when Darwin's Origin was published. By Louis Agassiz's death in 1873, even his former students, including his son Alexander, had defected to the evolutionist camp. Alexander, a self-made millionaire, succeeded his father as director and introduced a significantly different agenda for the museum. To trace Louis and Alexander's arguments and the style of science they established at the museum, Winsor uses many fascinating examples that even zoologists may find unfamiliar. The locus of all this activity, the museum building itself, tells its own story through a wonderful series of archival photographs. 410 0$aScience and its conceptual foundations. 606 $aAnimals$vClassification$xHistory 606 $aNatural history$xClassification$xHistory 606 $aNaturalists$zUnited States$vBiography 615 0$aAnimals$xHistory. 615 0$aNatural history$xClassification$xHistory. 615 0$aNaturalists 676 $a574/.012 686 $aWB 1455$qSEPA$2rvk 700 $aWinsor$b Mary P$01598463 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910824155103321 996 $aReading the shape of nature$93965593 997 $aUNINA