الوصف
Richard Conniff is an award-winning magazine writer, a Guggenheim Fellow, and a frequent contributor to NPR and the New York Times. The author of Swimming with Piranhas at Feeding Time, he lives in Connecticut. This is the story of the adventurers who risked death to discover strange life forms in the farthest corners of Earth. Beginning with Linnaeus, a colourful band of explorers made it their mission to travel and bring back astonishing new life forms. Richard Coniff , a Guggenheim Fellow and winner of the National Magazine Award, writes for Smithsonian and National Geographic and is a frequent commentator on NPR's All Things Considered and a guest columnist for the New York Times. His books include The Natural History of the Rich , Swimming with Piranhas at Feeding Time , and The Species Seekers . He lives in Old Lyme, Connecticut. Conniff tells the story of bold adventurers who risked death to discover strange life forms in the farthest corners of planet Earth. From the mid-eighteenth century to the early twentieth, a colorful band of amateur naturalists explored the most perilous corners of the planet to discover new life-forms. Amid globe-spanning tales of adventure, Richard Conniff recounts a dramatic historical shift, as humans finally discovered the pantheon of life on Earth-and our place within it. A marvelous tribute to the age of wonder. An anecdotal romp through the strange history of naturalism. Absurd characters, exciting discoveries, and fierce rivalries abound. An enduring story bursting at the seams with intriguing, fantastical and disturbing anecdotes. A swashbuckling romp brilliantly evokes that just-before Darwin era. A swashbuckling romp??rilliantly evokes that just-before Darwin era. [Conniff] chronicles two centuries of adventure, and at the same time illustrates important developments in human thought. [Conniff "s] enthusiasm for his subject and admiration of these explorers is infectious . . . an entertaining survey. [Conniff's] enthusiasm for his subject and admiration of these explorers is infectious . . . an entertaining survey. Modern biology and medicine would not be what they are today if not for the death-defying naturalists who set out to travel the world and find new species. In The Species Seekers, Richard Conniff creates a marvelous rogues " gallery of these brave, sometimes reckless heroes of taxonomy, full of surprising tales of gorillas, platypuses, and disease-laden mosquitoes. Modern biology and medicine would not be what they are today if not for the death-defying naturalists who set out to travel the world and find new species. In The Species Seekers, Richard Conniff creates a marvelous rogues' gallery of these brave, sometimes reckless heroes of taxonomy, full of surprising tales of gorillas, platypuses, and disease-laden mosquitoes. [This] history of the 'great age of discovery' is spellbinding. [This] history of the great age of discovery " is spellbinding. SThis beautifully written book has the verve of an adventure story. ??Wall Street Journal This beautifully written book has the verve of an adventure story.-Wall Street Journal