Written by evolutionary biologist and Royal Society Fellow George John Romanes (1848–94), this three-volume study of Darwin's work considers the many implications of evolution by natural selection. Pu
Published between 1850 and 1886, this six-volume reference became the definitive reference on the brachiopods. It includes an essay by Richard Owen on the terebratulids, and separate guides to brachio
This world-famous series was begun by Sir William Jackson Hooker (1785–1865) in 1837, and the ten volumes reissued here were produced under his authorship until 1854. Each volume contains 100 line dra
Naturalist and surgeon Sir John Richardson (1787–1865) accompanied Sir John Franklin on his first two Arctic expeditions. Richardson collected specimens during the trips and produced this four-volume
The most influential work of French biologist and comparative anatomist Georges Cuvier (1769–1832), Le Regne Animal, was published in French in 1817, and this sixteen-volume illustrated English versio
Best known for designing the Crystal Palace, Paxton was head gardener at Chatsworth by the age of twenty-three. These volumes, published between 1850 and 1853, reflect not only the Victorians' interes
An 1896 life, by his collaborator Jules Marcou, of Swiss-born palaeontologist, glaciologist and zoologist Louis Agassiz (1807–1873). Volume 1 deals with his early life in Switzerland, and Volume 2 tel
Sir Joseph Hooker (1817–1911) was one of the greatest British botanists and explorers of the nineteenth century. He succeeded his father, Sir William Jackson Hooker, as Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and was a close friend and supporter of Charles Darwin. His journey to the Himalayas and India was undertaken between 1847 and 1851 to collect plants for Kew, and his account, published in 1854, was dedicated to Darwin. Hooker collected some 7,000 species in India and Nepal, and carried out surveys and made maps which proved of economic and military importance to the British. He was arrested by the Rajah of Sikkim, but the British authorities secured his release by threatening to invade, and annexing part of the small kingdom. Volume 1 begins at his arrival in Calcutta, and follows his travels northward to Sikkim and Nepal via Bangalore and Darjeeling, and then on to Tibet.
Sir Joseph Hooker (1817–1911) was one of the greatest British botanists and explorers of the nineteenth century. He succeeded his father, Sir William Jackson Hooker, as Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and was a close friend and supporter of Charles Darwin. His journey to the Himalayas and India was undertaken between 1847 and 1851 to collect plants for Kew, and his account, published in 1854, was dedicated to Darwin. Hooker collected some 7,000 species in India and Nepal, and carried out surveys and made maps which proved of economic and military importance to the British. He was arrested by the Rajah of Sikkim, but the British authorities secured his release by threatening to invade, and annexing part of the small kingdom. Volume 2 continues Hooker's description of Nepal and Sikkim (including his brief imprisonment) and his return to Calcutta to begin his journey back to Great Britain.
George John Romanes (1848–94), evolutionary biologist, was one of the most zealous supporters of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection in the nineteenth century. He met Darwin in 1874 and became a firm friend and follower, applying Darwinian theory to his work on animal intelligence and mental evolution. Romanes was elected to the Royal Society in 1879 at the age of 31, having produced his own influential research on the evolution of the nervous system. This three-volume study of Darwin's work and its implications was first developed as a series of lectures given in Edinburgh and London between 1886 and 1890. Controversially, Romanes deviates from Darwin's assertion of the significance of geographical isolation, contending that physiological differences among the same species were central to evolutionary change. Published posthumously in 1895, Volume 2 focuses on the 'post-Darwinian questions' of heredity and utility in organisms.
George John Romanes (1848–94), evolutionary biologist, was one of the most zealous supporters of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection in the nineteenth century. He met Darwin in 1874 and became a firm friend and follower, applying Darwinian theory to his work on animal intelligence and mental evolution. Romanes was elected to the Royal Society in 1879 at the age of 31, having produced his own influential research on the evolution of the nervous system. This three-volume study of Darwin's work and its implications was first developed as a series of lectures given in Edinburgh and London between 1886 and 1890. Controversially, Romanes deviates from Darwin's assertion of the significance of geographical isolation, contending that physiological differences among the same species were central to evolutionary change. Published posthumously in 1897, Volume 3 considers the 'post-Darwinian question' of isolation, incorporating Romanes' own theories on physiological selection.
George John Romanes (1848–94), evolutionary biologist, was one of the most zealous supporters of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection in the nineteenth century. He met Darwin in 1874 and became a firm friend and follower, applying Darwinian theory to his work on animal intelligence and mental evolution. Romanes was elected to the Royal Society in 1879 at the age of 31, having produced his own influential research on the evolution of the nervous system. This three-volume study of Darwin's work and its implications was first developed as a series of lectures given in Edinburgh and London between 1886 and 1890. Controversially, Romanes deviates from Darwin's assertion of the significance of geographical isolation, contending that physiological differences among the same species were central to evolutionary change. First published in 1892, Volume 1 focuses on the Darwinian theory itself. This second edition appeared in 1893.
Charles Darwin (1809–82) was the English naturalist famous for the theory of evolution by natural selection. He began studying medicine at the University of Edinburgh, but developed a fascination for natural history and left Edinburgh to attend Christ's College, Cambridge, where he pursued his new interest while taking a Bachelor of Arts degree. After graduating, he had the opportunity to secure a position as ship's naturalist aboard H.M.S. Beagle for a five-year, round-the-world voyage which would make him famous. Published in 1845, this book is the second edition of Darwin's expedition journal, more popularly known as The Voyage of the Beagle. Throughout the journey he made observations and discoveries that would lead him to develop his revolutionary theory of evolution, which later appeared in On the Origin of Species and created a storm in the scientific and religious communities.
Henry Seebohm (1832–95) was a Yorkshire steel manufacturer and passionate amateur ornithologist. He travelled widely in Greece, Scandinavia, Turkey and South Africa studying birds in their native habitats. He served as secretary of the Royal Geological Society, was a fellow of the Linnean Society, and member of the British Ornithologists' Union and of the Zoological Society. This volume, published in 1901, contains two books recounting his travels in Siberia. Siberia in Europe (1880) was the result of an expedition to the lower Pechora River valley in 1875 with zoologist J. A. Harvie-Brown, and also his study of bird migrations in Heligoland with ornithologist Heinrich Gätke. He located the breeding grounds of several visitors to Britain, including the grey plover and Bewick's swan. Siberia in Asia (1882) was published after his 1877 journey with Arctic explorer Joseph Wiggins along the Yenisey River. There are numerous woodcuts illustrating birds and Siberian landscapes.
Alfred Russel Wallace (1823–1913) was a British biologist and explorer whose theories of evolution, arrived at independently, caused Darwin to allow their famous joint paper to go forward to the Linnean Society in 1858. Considered the nineteenth century's leading expert on the geographical distribution of animals, Wallace carried out extensive fieldwork in areas as diverse as North and South America, Africa, China, India and Australia to document the habitats, breeding, migration and feeding behaviour of thousands of species around the world, and the influence of environmental conditions on their survival. First published in 1876, this two-volume set presents Wallace's findings, and represents a landmark in the study of zoology, evolutionary biology and palaeontology which remains relevant to scholars in these fields today. Volume 2 explores the distribution of primates, the habitats and characteristics of mammals, birds, reptiles, fish and insects, and patterns of migration.
George John Romanes (1848–94), considered by The Times to be 'the biological investigator upon whom in England the mantle of Mr. Darwin has most conspicuously descended', wrote this influential work on the evolution of the mental faculties of animals in 1883. The two scientists were close friends, and Darwin gave Romanes his notes on psychology to use in his studies. Much of the book is devoted to instinct, and contained in the appendix is a posthumous essay by Darwin on the subject, originally intended for a later edition of On the Origin of Species. Romanes' method of using anecdotal evidence over empirical research has been criticised, but this book stands as an influential work in the history of evolutionary biology; it was followed in 1888 by his Mental Evolution in Man (also reissued in this series), which discussed some of the most important issues of nineteenth-century evolutionary psychology.
Alfred Russel Wallace (1823–1913) was a British biologist and explorer whose theories of evolution, arrived at independently, caused Darwin to allow their famous joint paper to go forward to the Linnean Society in 1858. Considered the nineteenth century's leading expert on the geographical distribution of animals, Wallace carried out extensive fieldwork in areas as diverse as North and South America, Africa, China, India and Australia to document the habitats, breeding, migration and feeding behaviour of thousands of species around the world, and the influence of environmental conditions on their survival. First published in 1876, this two-volume set presents Wallace's findings, and represents a landmark in the study of zoology, evolutionary biology and palaeontology which remains relevant to scholars in these fields today. Volume 1 focuses on the classification of species, migration processes, factors influencing extinction, and the characteristics of a range of zoological regions wor
Thomas Cheeseman (1846–1923), who moved to New Zealand in childhood, was a figure of vital importance for the study of the natural history of New Zealand. Appointed curator of the newly founded Auckland Museum in 1874, he built up its natural history collections on collecting trips, and published over 100 books and papers on botanical, zoological, and ethnographical subjects - work of importance not only for botanists but for the development of agriculture in New Zealand, and for an understanding of the native ecology of the country. He was commissioned by the government to replace Hooker's now outdated 1864 New Zealand Flora, when Thomas Kirk died before completing such a handbook. Building on his local studies, he published this two-volume work, which contained descriptions of 1,551 flowering plants, 20 pines, and 156 ferns and fern allies, in 1906. He was awarded the Gold Medal of the Linnaean Society in 1923.
Henry Field (1755–1837) was a British apothecary and member of the Society of Apothecaries of London. Besides serving in various administrative capacities for the Society, as well as for the London Annuity Society (founded by his father), he was nominated in 1831 as one of the medical officers for the City of London board of health, charged with taking precautions against an outbreak of cholera in the city. A lecturer and regular contributor to medical journals, Field is also the author of this history of the Chelsea Physic Garden, first published in 1820. The present reissue, published in 1878, was revised and extended by Robert Hunter Semple (1815–91). The garden was originally created by the Society as a professional resource in 1673 and the book covers its development up to 1878, and also includes a ground plan of the garden in that year.
Sir Joseph Hooker (1817–1911) was one of the greatest British botanists and explorers of the nineteenth century. He succeeded his father, Sir William Jackson Hooker, as Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and was a close friend and supporter of Charles Darwin. His journey to the Himalayas and India, during which he collected some 7,000 species, was undertaken between 1847 and 1851 to increase the Kew collections; his account of the expedition (also reissued in this series) was dedicated to Darwin. In 1855 he published Flora Indica with his fellow-traveller Thomas Thomson, who became Superintendent of the East India Company's Botanic Garden at Calcutta. Lack of support from the Company meant that only the first volume of a projected series was published. However, the introductory essay on the geographical relations of India's flora is considered to be one of Hooker's most important statements on biogeographical issues.
