Since the time of Aristotle, there had been a clear divide between the three kingdoms of animal, vegetable, and mineral. But by the eighteenth century, biological experiments, and the wide range of new creatures coming to Europe from across the world, challenged these neat divisions. Abraham Trembley found that freshwater polyps grew into complete individuals when cut. This shocking discovery raised deep questions: was it a plant or an animal? And this was not the only conundrum. What of coral? Was it a rock or a living form? Did plants have sexes, like animals? The boundaries appeared to blur. And what did all this say about the nature of life itself? Were animals and plants soul-less, mechanical forms, as Descartes suggested? The debates raging across science played into some of the biggest and most controversial issues of Enlightenment Europe. In this book, Susannah Gibson explains how a study of pond slime could cause people to question the existence of the soul; observation of eggs could make a man doubt that God had created the world; how the discovery of the Venus fly-trap was linked to the French Revolution; and how interpretations of fossils could change our understanding of the Earth's history. Using rigorous historical research, and a lively and readable style, this book vividly captures the big concerns of eighteenth-century science. And the debates concerning the divisions of life did not end there; they continue to have resonances in modern biology.

About the Author
Susannah Gibson is an affiliated scholar at the Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge. She holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge on the history of the life sciences in the eighteenth century.

Reviews
An outstandingly readable book on a highly interesting period of the history of biology that is instructive for amateurs and professionals alike. * Wolfgang Lefevre, Ambix *
...this is an excellent book. Not only is it full of interesting historical stories; it is also an amusing read and, ultimately, a wonderful reminder that history of science is fun. * Victoria Pickering, ISIS *
Gibson's book does an excellent job in describing how our ideas about the order of nature changed and developed during the eighteenth century. * Paul Lawrence Farber, Metascience *
Highly readable. * Isabelle Charmantier, Archives of Natural History *
Susannah Gibson unpacks the experiments and speculations that underpinned Enlightenment natural history, showing how finds pushed at disciplinary boundaries... Gibson's story whisks us from one taxonomical can of worms to the next. * Nature, Jennifer Rampling *
[An] attractive and clearly written study... Gibson's account does justice to the reach of technical work by individuals, sometimes enthusiasts as much as scientists. And her plain style opens out for the reader enduring arguments about life, its sources and its varients. * Daily Telegraph, Gillian Beer *
Animal, Vegetable, Mineral? is replete with relevance for today. After all, from genetically modified food, to debates about environmental policy, to medical advances, biology remains central to many scientific, political and popular controversies ... an excellent, valuable and engaging introduction to the intellectual trends that helped shape the modern scientific world, and demonstrates how history can inform debates facing us today. * Mark Greener, Fortean Times *
This is a book well worth reading and it will enliven many a classroom lecture. * Elof Axel Carlson, Quarterly Review of Biology *



Book Information
ISBN 9780198705130
Author Susannah Gibson
Format Hardback
Page Count 240
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Dimensions(mm) 222mm * 143mm * 24mm