Naming Nature: The Clash Between Instinct and Science

Very Good used paperback. Covers shelf worn; page edges are slightly faded. 

Finalist for the 2009 Los Angeles Times Book Prize in Science and Technology. 

Biologist Carol Kaesuk Yoon explores the historical tension between evolutionary biology and taxonomy, the science of classification founded by Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in the eighteenth century.  Linneaus relied on intuitive, visual judgements.  But after Darwin discovered evolution, taxonomy eventually moved into the laboratory and yielded results counterintuitive to humanity’s innate predisposition to order the world. By conceding scientific authority to taxonomists, Yoon argues, we’ve surrendered our observational skills and contributed to our own alienation from nature.   Naming Nature is a stirring reminder of the urgency of staying connected to the natural world.