The platypus and the mermaid, and other figments of the classifying imagination
Ritvo, Harriet
The platypus and the mermaid, and other figments of the classifying imagination / Harriet Ritvo - Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 1997 - xiv, 288 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
his book captures the fervor of the Victorian age for classifying and categorizing every new specimen, plant or animal, that British explorers and soldiers and sailors brought home. As she depicts a whole complex of competing groups deploying rival schemes and nomenclatures, Harriet Ritvo shows us a society drawing and redrawing its own boundaries and ultimately identifying itself. A thoroughly absorbing account of taxonomy - as zoological classification and as anthropological study - The Platypus and the Mermaid offers a new perspective on the constantly shifting, ever suggestive interactions of scientific lore, cultural ideas, and the popular imagination.
his book captures the fervor of the Victorian age for classifying and categorizing every new specimen, plant or animal, that British explorers and soldiers and sailors brought home. As she depicts a whole complex of competing groups deploying rival schemes and nomenclatures, Harriet Ritvo shows us a society drawing and redrawing its own boundaries and ultimately identifying itself. A thoroughly absorbing account of taxonomy - as zoological classification and as anthropological study - The Platypus and the Mermaid offers a new perspective on the constantly shifting, ever suggestive interactions of scientific lore, cultural ideas, and the popular imagination.
9780674673588
International Book Distributors :Flat No 17, Prakash Apartment 4405/2, 5 Ansari Road Darya Ganj New Delhi Zafaa Books & Distributors :313/56F 49A, Anand Nagar Inderlok Delhi 110035
Animals Zoology
Animals -- Great Britain -- Classification -- History -- 18th century.
Natural history -- Great Britain -- History -- 18th century.
Popular culture -- Great Britain -- History -- 19th century.
Natural History.
Popular culture.
Great Britain.
Names -- history.
590.12 RIT
The platypus and the mermaid, and other figments of the classifying imagination / Harriet Ritvo - Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 1997 - xiv, 288 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
his book captures the fervor of the Victorian age for classifying and categorizing every new specimen, plant or animal, that British explorers and soldiers and sailors brought home. As she depicts a whole complex of competing groups deploying rival schemes and nomenclatures, Harriet Ritvo shows us a society drawing and redrawing its own boundaries and ultimately identifying itself. A thoroughly absorbing account of taxonomy - as zoological classification and as anthropological study - The Platypus and the Mermaid offers a new perspective on the constantly shifting, ever suggestive interactions of scientific lore, cultural ideas, and the popular imagination.
his book captures the fervor of the Victorian age for classifying and categorizing every new specimen, plant or animal, that British explorers and soldiers and sailors brought home. As she depicts a whole complex of competing groups deploying rival schemes and nomenclatures, Harriet Ritvo shows us a society drawing and redrawing its own boundaries and ultimately identifying itself. A thoroughly absorbing account of taxonomy - as zoological classification and as anthropological study - The Platypus and the Mermaid offers a new perspective on the constantly shifting, ever suggestive interactions of scientific lore, cultural ideas, and the popular imagination.
9780674673588
International Book Distributors :Flat No 17, Prakash Apartment 4405/2, 5 Ansari Road Darya Ganj New Delhi Zafaa Books & Distributors :313/56F 49A, Anand Nagar Inderlok Delhi 110035
Animals Zoology
Animals -- Great Britain -- Classification -- History -- 18th century.
Natural history -- Great Britain -- History -- 18th century.
Popular culture -- Great Britain -- History -- 19th century.
Natural History.
Popular culture.
Great Britain.
Names -- history.
590.12 RIT
