Naming Nature

The Clash Between Instinct and Science

Carol Kaesuk Yoon

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English

Norton
06 August 2010

Mathematics & Sciences; Science: general issues; Scientific nomenclature & classification; History of science; Popular science; Taxonomy & systematics

Two hundred and fifty years ago, the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus set out to order and name the entire living world and ended up founding a science: the field of scientific classification, or taxonomy. Yet, in spite of Linnaeus's pioneering work and the genius of those who followed him, from Darwin to E. O. Wilson, taxonomy went from being revered as one of the most significant of intellectual pursuits to being largely ignored. Today, taxonomy is viewed by many as an outdated field, one nearly irrelevant to the rest of science and of even less interest to the rest of the world. Now, as Carol Kaesuk Yoon, biologist and longtime science writer for the New York Times, reminds us in Naming Nature, taxonomy is critically important, because it turns out to be much more than mere science. It is also the latest incarnation of a long-unrecognized human practice that has gone on across the globe, in every culture, in every language since before time: the deeply human act of ordering and naming the living world. In Naming Nature, Yoon takes us on a guided tour of science's brilliant, if sometimes misguided, attempts to order and name the overwhelming diversity of earth's living things. We follow a trail of scattered clues that reveals taxonomy's real origins in humanity's distant past. Yoon's journey brings us from New Guinea tribesmen who call a giant bird a mammal to the trials and tribulations of patients with a curious form of brain damage that causes them to be unable to distinguish among living things. Finally, Yoon shows us how the reclaiming of taxonomy—a renewed interest in learning the kinds and names of things around us—will rekindle humanity's dwindling connection with wild nature. Naming Nature has much to tell us, not only about how scientists create a science but also about how the progress of science can alter the expression of our own human nature.

By: Carol Kaesuk Yoon
Imprint: Norton
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 211mm, Width: 140mm, Spine: 23mm
Weight: 436g
ISBN: 9780393338713
ISBN 10: 0393338711
Pages: 352
Publication Date: 06 August 2010
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Carol Kaesuk Yoon writes for The New York Times Science Times . She has a BS in biology from Yale University and a PhD in ecology and evolutionary biology from Cornell University.

Reviews for Naming Nature: The Clash Between Instinct and Science

A beautiful riddle of a book. -- Time Out New York Impossible to put down. -- Booklist Starred Review: Superb. -- Kirkus Reviews A sensuous delight to read. -- O, The Oprah Magazine Starred Review: Optimistic, exhilarating, and revolutionary. -- Publishers Weekly Bracing and brilliant. -- Boston Globe Ingenious ... compelling. -- San Francisco Chronicle