John Ray, naturalist : his life and works / by Charles E. Raven ; with an introduction by S.M. Walters.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Raven, Charles E. (Charles Earle), 1885-1964.

Series:

Cambridge science classics

Cambridge science classics.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Ray, John, 1627-1705.

Ray, John.

Naturalists--England--Biography.

Naturalists.

England.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xxv, 506 pages ; 23 cm.

Edition:

Second edition, reissued.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge [Cambridgeshire] ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 1986.

Summary:

Charles Raven's biography of the seventeenth-century English naturalist John Ray is one of the great works in the history of science. The author's command of Latin (the language in which all Ray's biological works were written) and his enthusiasm for natural history enabled him to interpret superbly to the modern reader John Ray's remarkable scientific work and to rescue Ray's reputation from undeserved neglect. Raven reveals the unique influence Ray had on the development of modern science and in particular explains sympathetically the key role of Ray's last, most popular and most influential work, The Wisdom of God, which was the forerunner of the great 'Darwinian' controversies between science and religion in the nineteenth century.

Contents:

John Ray / W. Faithorne, G. Vertue

Chapter I Boyhood and Youth

Note: The Rays in the Register at Black Notley 19

Chapter II At Cambridge University 21

Ray's Latin poems 39

Chapter III First Studies in Science 43

Ray's pupils at Trinity 71

Chapter IV The Cambridge Catalogue 72

Ray's garden in Trinity College 108

Chapter V The Years of Travel 111

Ray's Herbarium 140

Chapter VI The English Catalogue 142

The topography of Ray's journeys 160

Chapter VII The Years of Varied Output 163

Ray's house called Dewlands 179

Chapter VIII The Structure and Classification of Plants 181

Ray's relations with Nehemiah Grew 200

Chapter IX The History of Plants 202

Ray's wine-list 241

Chapter X The Flora of Britain 243

Localities at Black Notley 270

Chapter XI Last Work in Botany 271

Ray and Linnaeus 306

Chapter XII The Ornithology 308

Ray and Willughby 334

Sir Thomas Browne on Birds 337

Chapter XIII The History of Fishes 339

Note: The Smelts of Rostherne Mere 369

The pictures of Fishes 370

Chapter XIV Of Mammals and Reptiles 371

Chapter XV The History of Insects 388

Ray and the case of Lady Glanville 417

Chapter XVI Of Fossils and Geology 419

The controversy about Woodward's book 449

Chapter XVII The Wisdom of God 452

Ray's scientific genius 478.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0521310830

OCLC:

13004295