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[A] fascinating and groundbreaking book. -- Tim Dee, Times Literary Supplement In this new, well-argued book, Kohler plays down the importance of laboratory life to naturalists. Instead he puts their scientific achievements into the contexts of the environment they worked in, the social culture of nature-going they often came from, and, lastly, the science of classification in the tradition of the Swedish naturalist Carl von Linne... An important contribution to the history of naturalists in the United States, it is well worth the read. -- Peder Anker, Science Fascinating reading... All Creatures presents an excellent summary of the work and lives of explorers and surveyors. Kohler summarizes the rapidly vanishing field of biological surveys for a broad audience, formidably bringing back old times to explain the birth and growth of surveys, collecting and natural history. -- Swen C. Renner, EMBO Reports In this rich story of discoveries, readers learn of the remarkable natural history work that has identified and named 1.4 million species on Earth... This book portrays the travel, pleasures, and pain of fieldwork in this great century of taxonomy. -- Choice [This book] opens new perspectives on histories of natural history that did not end with the experimentation of the life sciences in the second half of the nineteenth century. It also challenges the reader to rethink the relationship between social history and a culturally informed history of science. -- Tobias Cheung, Canadian Journal of History [Kohler's] treatment is a great general read but at the same time, fills an empty niche in the history of American biological sciences. This volume is highly recommended for students of the history of science at any level. -- Larry T. Spencer, Quarterly Review of Biology Kohler thoughtfully examines the whole issue of surveys versus discoveries and collectors versus explorers... While scientific and environmental circumstances have changed, Kohler has succeeded in restoring these naturalists to their rightful place in the history of natural history. -- Mark Madison, International History Review Despite the spatio-temporal restriction of Kohler's subject, he manages to place it into a context of more general interest and importance by elaborating the environmental, cultural, and scientific backgrounds of survey collecting. Any systematist curious about the processes that have been responsible for filling the filing cabinets of American natural history museums should read this book. -- Ronald A. Jenner, The Systematist Kohler's book will be useful for science educators who wish to broaden their discussions of diversity with an historical dimension. It will be especially useful for those in the United States who can use the book to point to work done in local regions that had significant national and international scientific importance. And, in that sense, the study provides a useful and highly readable source that brings together a lot of recent historical research. -- Paul Lawrence Farber, Science Education

[A] fascinating and groundbreaking book. -- Tim Dee Times Literary Supplement In this new, well-argued book, Kohler plays down the importance of laboratory life to naturalists. Instead he puts their scientific achievements into the contexts of the environment they worked in, the social culture of nature-going they often came from, and, lastly, the science of classification in the tradition of the Swedish naturalist Carl von Linne... An important contribution to the history of naturalists in the United States, it is well worth the read. -- Peder Anker Science Fascinating reading... All Creatures presents an excellent summary of the work and lives of explorers and surveyors. Kohler summarizes the rapidly vanishing field of biological surveys for a broad audience, formidably bringing back old times to explain the birth and growth of surveys, collecting and natural history. -- Swen C. Renner EMBO Reports In this rich story of discoveries, readers learn of the remarkable natural history work that has identified and named 1.4 million species on Earth... This book portrays the travel, pleasures, and pain of fieldwork in this great century of taxonomy. Choice [This book] opens new perspectives on histories of natural history that did not end with the experimentation of the life sciences in the second half of the nineteenth century. It also challenges the reader to rethink the relationship between social history and a culturally informed history of science. -- Tobias Cheung Canadian Journal of History [Kohler's] treatment is a great general read but at the same time, fills an empty niche in the history of American biological sciences. This volume is highly recommended for students of the history of science at any level. -- Larry T. Spencer Quarterly Review of Biology Kohler thoughtfully examines the whole issue of surveys versus discoveries and collectors versus explorers... While scientific and environmental circumstances have changed, Kohler has succeeded in restoring these naturalists to their rightful place in the history of natural history. -- Mark Madison International History Review Despite the spatio-temporal restriction of Kohler's subject, he manages to place it into a context of more general interest and importance by elaborating the environmental, cultural, and scientific backgrounds of survey collecting. Any systematist curious about the processes that have been responsible for filling the filing cabinets of American natural history museums should read this book. -- Ronald A. Jenner The Systematist

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Robert E. Kohler is Professor of History and Sociology of Science at the University of Pennsylvania. The recipient of an award for lifetime achievement in his field, he is the author of four previous books on the experimental and field sciences, including Lords of the Fly: Drosophila Genetics and the Experimental Life.

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