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Every Living Thing: The Great and Deadly Race to Know All Life
From the bestselling author of A Sense of the World comes this dramatic, globe-spanning and meticulously-researched story of two scientific rivals and their race to survey all life on Earth.
In the 18th century, two men dedicated their lives to the same daunting task: identifying and describing all life on Earth. Their approaches could not have been more different. Carl Linnaeus, a pious Swedish doctor with a huckster's flair, believed that life belonged in tidy, static categories. Georges-Louis de Buffon, an aristocratic polymath and keeper of France's royal garden, viewed life as a dynamic swirl of complexities. Both began believing their work to be difficult, but not impossible—how could the planet possibly hold more than a few thousand species? Stunned by life's diversity, both fell far short of their goal. But in the process they articulated starkly divergent views on nature, on humanity's role in shaping the fate of our planet and on humanity itself.
The rivalry between these two unique, driven individuals created reverberations that still echo today. Linnaeus, with the help of acolyte explorers he called "apostles" (only half of whom returned alive), gave the world such concepts as mammal, primate and homo sapiens—but he also denied species change and promulgated racist pseudo-science. Buffon coined the term reproduction, formulated early prototypes of evolution and genetics, and argued passionately against prejudice. It was a clash that, during their lifetimes, Buffon seemed to be winning. But their posthumous fates would take a very different turn.
With elegant, propulsive prose grounded in more than a decade of research, featuring appearances by Voltaire, Benjamin Franklin and Charles Darwin, bestselling author Jason Roberts tells an unforgettable true-life tale of intertwined lives and enduring legacies, tracing an arc of insight and discovery that extends across three centuries into the present day.
In the 18th century, two men dedicated their lives to the same daunting task: identifying and describing all life on Earth. Their approaches could not have been more different. Carl Linnaeus, a pious Swedish doctor with a huckster's flair, believed that life belonged in tidy, static categories. Georges-Louis de Buffon, an aristocratic polymath and keeper of France's royal garden, viewed life as a dynamic swirl of complexities. Both began believing their work to be difficult, but not impossible—how could the planet possibly hold more than a few thousand species? Stunned by life's diversity, both fell far short of their goal. But in the process they articulated starkly divergent views on nature, on humanity's role in shaping the fate of our planet and on humanity itself.
The rivalry between these two unique, driven individuals created reverberations that still echo today. Linnaeus, with the help of acolyte explorers he called "apostles" (only half of whom returned alive), gave the world such concepts as mammal, primate and homo sapiens—but he also denied species change and promulgated racist pseudo-science. Buffon coined the term reproduction, formulated early prototypes of evolution and genetics, and argued passionately against prejudice. It was a clash that, during their lifetimes, Buffon seemed to be winning. But their posthumous fates would take a very different turn.
With elegant, propulsive prose grounded in more than a decade of research, featuring appearances by Voltaire, Benjamin Franklin and Charles Darwin, bestselling author Jason Roberts tells an unforgettable true-life tale of intertwined lives and enduring legacies, tracing an arc of insight and discovery that extends across three centuries into the present day.
448 pages, Hardcover
First published April 9, 2024
About the author
Jason Roberts
23 books32 followersJason Roberts is a writer of nonfiction and fiction. His most recent book is Every Living Thing: The Great and Deadly Race to Know All Life. His previous book, A Sense of the World: How a Blind Man Became History’s Greatest Traveler, was a national bestseller and finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. A contributor to McSweeney’s, The Believer, and other publications, he lives in Northern California.
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
October 7, 2023
Could a single person possibly write an account of the entire Kingdom of Creation? To the man in Uppsala already attempting to do so, this did not read as hyperbole. Up until now Linnaeus had garnered critics, not competitors. Buffon had ample resources to command — his own fortune, his large staff of assistants and subordinates, and the prestige and backing of King Louis XIV. French naval officers now had standing orders to collect specimens for the Jardin during their voyages; all French physicians working abroad were strongly encouraged to submit specimens as well. Linnaeus had a significant head start, but Buffon could simply outwork him, fitting all the pieces together in a more consistent and logical manner.
Every Living Thing has everything I like going for it: It’s a well-written and fascinating history of those rarely-examined events that led to the society in which we find ourselves today. As it happened, both Carl Linnaeus in Sweden and Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in France determined to name and categorise every living thing on Earth (after all, how many could there be if they could fit, in pairs, on the Biblical Ark?) in the mid-18th century, and each of them would go on to spend their entire lives in the effort. Author Jason Roberts weaves a compelling biography for each of these proto-biologists — they couldn’t have come from more different backgrounds, and Roberts has a clear favourite between them — and as their legacies unspool into the modern day, it’s discouraging (if not surprising) to learn why the lesser, more cumbersome/inaccurate system for categorisation became our standard. This is exactly to my tastes and I could not have asked for more. (Note: I read an ARC through NetGalley and passages quoted may not be in their final forms.)
In this new age of expansion, classification became another form of conquest. What better way to “civilize” a region than to inventory its flora and fauna, scouring them of native names and naming them anew? British naval ships, less burdened in peacetime, now had ample room for naturalists to accompany them on voyages. British citizens abroad, a rapidly growing colonial class, shipped thousands of specimens homeward. Seeing the value of aligning political interests with developments in natural history, the British government threw its support behind the Linnean Society.
I don’t think it’s necessary to recount here the biographies of Linnaeus and Buffon — other than to note that neither were good students, but while the former was poor and striving, the latter inherited lands and titles that afforded him the freedom to become a gentleman thinker; and when each of them found themselves in charge of public gardens, they separately had the inspiration to improve on the disorganised methods of naming plants and animals in their day — but it should be noted how restricted each of them were by the Church at the time. And while Linnaeus toed the line on Church thinking (regarding species as fixed since the day of Creation, not subject to evolution or extinction), Buffon — through observation and meditation — wrote of deep time, the natural process by which the solar system was created, the extinction evident in fossils (which Linnaeus dismissed as natural and coincidental rock formations), the obviousness of incremental evolution of species (including a common ancestor for primates; when Charles Darwin learned of Buffon’s writing over a century later, he remarked, “whole pages are laughably like mine”), the lamentable fact of human-driven environmental change, and despite very rudimentary microscopes at the time, he had ideas about cell theory, the ubiquity of single-celled organisms, and early musings on gene-like mechanisms. (But when he would write of such ideas, Buffon would then dismiss them in his next paragraph as contrary to revealed scripture and therefore absurd musings, quipping privately, “It is better to be humble than be hung.”)
It was Linnaeus who came up with the binomial naming standard for species which is still employed today, as well as the hierarchical kingdom-phylum-class-order-family-genus-species taxonomic system that we’re taught in school (even though, in his day, this nested-box system was dismissed by Buffon and others as cumbersome, unscientific, and not actually reflective of the relationships between species). Linnaeus was also the first to divide humanity in races (which Buffon also disputed as unscientific), ranking them in a hierarchy with Causasians (naturally for him) at the top. The history behind why Linnaeus’ system prevailed is a fascinating one (with colonialism and empire-building on the one hand and the French Revolution erasing the legacy of the ennobled on the other), but it’s even more fascinating to consider that we’re still clinging to this ever-more inefficient system to this day; a system so strict and moribund that while species are routinely moved around as genetic information proves relationship ties that weren’t obvious by mere observation in earlier times, there’s no process for changing the names of species — not even those misspelt when first officially recorded; not even those named after Hitler by Nazi scientists. The direct line proven between how we came to adopt this one system and the negative, and mostly unexamined, effects that this system has had on our society (even Lincoln was a Linnaean with racist beliefs that he thought were based on science) makes for the best kind of investigative nonfiction.
An NSF project called Dimensions of Biodiversity is using gene sequencing to identify species down to the microbial scale, and while it will take years for full results to emerge, project members already estimate the total number on Earth is more than twenty orders of magnitude greater than previously understood. “Until now, we haven’t known whether aspects of biodiversity scale with something as simple as the abundance of organisms,” reports Dr. Kenneth J. Locey, a postdoctorate fellow at Indiana University and a Dimensions of Biodiversity researcher. “As it turns out, the relationships are not only simple but powerful, resulting in the estimate of upwards of one trillion species.” One trillion species. That would mean we’ve discovered and recorded only one-thousandth of one percent of all possible entries in a catalogue of life.
In the end, not Linnaeus nor Buffon (nor any one person since Adam) could possibly have named every living thing on Earth; not the multitude of specimens sent to them by wide-ranging apostles, nor more particularly, the innumerous species not obvious to the naked eye (and by this I mean not only the microscopic or hidden deep ocean species, but also the fact that it took until genomic analysis in 2021 for us to realise that the “common giraffe” — named Giraffa camelopardelis in 1758 by Linnaeus himself — is actually four distinct species, “not only incapable of breeding with each other, but genetically distinct for at least a million years.” How could we have known that by physical examination — the Linnaean standard — alone?) On the other hand, this was the early days of the Enlightenment and both Linnaeus and Buffon laid the groundwork for what would become the modern field of biology; it seems a pity that of the two, it’s Linnaeus whose legacy is better known, but I am delighted that Roberts has written a book that aims to reclaim Buffon from the dustheap of history. I loved everything about this — from the narrative style to the small details and the overarching whole — and hope that it gets the audience and attention that it deserves.
October 9, 2023
Every Living Thing by Jason Roberts is a book that compares and contrasts Carl Linnaeus' and Georges-Louis de Buffon's approach to discovering all life on Earth. The book also covers how the study of biology progressed after their deaths, overall showing their great effect on the science.
I think this book is phenomenal. It is written is a very easy to understand way, with some helpful pictures. I particularly like how Roberts arranged the book, it was easy to keep up with the two separate people, and what they were doing at the time. Also, a great emphasis was placed on noting what ideas still exist to this day, incorporating their influences on modern biology throughout the book instead of just as a conclusion. Unusually, a significant portion of the end of the book continued to document important discoveries, such as Darwin's evolution and Mendel's genes. It was interesting to fully know how biology has progressed since their time, and how it continues to progress. Several other subjects were discussed, such as how racism and Christianity were affected these findings. Overall, Every Living Thing covered an impressive amount, in an understandable and fascinating way.
I would recommend this book to anyone looking to learn about the history of the study of biology, or who want an introduction to it.
Thank you to Random House for this ARC on NetGalley.
I think this book is phenomenal. It is written is a very easy to understand way, with some helpful pictures. I particularly like how Roberts arranged the book, it was easy to keep up with the two separate people, and what they were doing at the time. Also, a great emphasis was placed on noting what ideas still exist to this day, incorporating their influences on modern biology throughout the book instead of just as a conclusion. Unusually, a significant portion of the end of the book continued to document important discoveries, such as Darwin's evolution and Mendel's genes. It was interesting to fully know how biology has progressed since their time, and how it continues to progress. Several other subjects were discussed, such as how racism and Christianity were affected these findings. Overall, Every Living Thing covered an impressive amount, in an understandable and fascinating way.
I would recommend this book to anyone looking to learn about the history of the study of biology, or who want an introduction to it.
Thank you to Random House for this ARC on NetGalley.
April 29, 2024
Through the dual biography of two rival founding scientists of the natural sciences, we learn about the history, politics, philosophy, biology and religious ideas that still shape how we understand ourselves, animals and plants around us.
I was astounded by the breadth and depth of this book- starting with the early 1700s and going forward til today, informing not only the birth of taxonomy but even the understanding of evolution, the development of racism as we know it today, genetics, and more.
There are a lot of names you've heard of like Linnaeus and Darwin, but also many like Buffon, who's contributions are largely lost to the popular imagination. In all cases, readers learn so much about these people and their times, which makes their groundbreaking research even more interesting.
This book reminded me of one of my all time favorite books- Naming Nature: The Clash Between Instinct and Science by Carol Kaesuk Yoon. Both elucidate the enormous, impossible task of trying to order the word and all living beings in it, and ask whether it's possible to build a system like this without bias. These are matters close to my heart as a nature lover and librarian.
I was astounded by the breadth and depth of this book- starting with the early 1700s and going forward til today, informing not only the birth of taxonomy but even the understanding of evolution, the development of racism as we know it today, genetics, and more.
There are a lot of names you've heard of like Linnaeus and Darwin, but also many like Buffon, who's contributions are largely lost to the popular imagination. In all cases, readers learn so much about these people and their times, which makes their groundbreaking research even more interesting.
This book reminded me of one of my all time favorite books- Naming Nature: The Clash Between Instinct and Science by Carol Kaesuk Yoon. Both elucidate the enormous, impossible task of trying to order the word and all living beings in it, and ask whether it's possible to build a system like this without bias. These are matters close to my heart as a nature lover and librarian.
February 29, 2024
A compelling parallel biography. I guess everyone heard about Linnaeus in school, and those of us interested in the history of science are familiar with Buffon - but reading this book made me realize how little I knew about both of them and their attempts to organize the natural world. So I learned a lot, but also had a lot of fun, because it is very well written and surprisingly entertaining.
It is impressive how many written sources exist about the lives of these two characters, but I was equally impressed with how the author drew on them. He has an eye for interesting details, but does not overload the pages with too much dry information. As a result, it reads like a novel, or at least like narrative non-fiction.
Thanks to the publisher, Random House, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.
It is impressive how many written sources exist about the lives of these two characters, but I was equally impressed with how the author drew on them. He has an eye for interesting details, but does not overload the pages with too much dry information. As a result, it reads like a novel, or at least like narrative non-fiction.
Thanks to the publisher, Random House, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.
May 2, 2024
Every Living Thing By Jason Roberts took me longer to read than the average genre of book I devour, but only because it was so intriguing and I wanted to make sure I absorbed every meticulously-researched detail. I'm sort of a trivia nerd and was even able to answer a final Jeopardy answer with the knowledge imparted upon me from this book!
These are the stories of two 18th century scientific rivals, Carl Linnaeus and Georges-Louis de Buffon, who dedicated their lives to identifying and describing all life on Earth, and the impact of their discoveries that extends across three centuries into the present day.
Jason Roberts does a great job simultaneously telling the separate stories of both men on their life's journey with detail and understanding into their scientific reasonings, ideas, and classifications. How these men gave us concepts such as mammal, primate and homo sapiens and introduced the term reproduction, formulated prototypes for genetics and evolution, but also how those choices have impacted or progressed today's world views on such matters in the scientific communities. He even touches on humanity's old and prejudiced classifications of self and the development of racist pseudo-science views that spewed from these misrepresentations.
It was interesting how he tied everything together to help the reader make correlations between past and present. I particularly liked the ending and they way he incorporated more recent discoveries, such as multiple species identification with giraffes, to show how far we have come and how far we still must go to understanding every living thing.
These are the stories of two 18th century scientific rivals, Carl Linnaeus and Georges-Louis de Buffon, who dedicated their lives to identifying and describing all life on Earth, and the impact of their discoveries that extends across three centuries into the present day.
Jason Roberts does a great job simultaneously telling the separate stories of both men on their life's journey with detail and understanding into their scientific reasonings, ideas, and classifications. How these men gave us concepts such as mammal, primate and homo sapiens and introduced the term reproduction, formulated prototypes for genetics and evolution, but also how those choices have impacted or progressed today's world views on such matters in the scientific communities. He even touches on humanity's old and prejudiced classifications of self and the development of racist pseudo-science views that spewed from these misrepresentations.
It was interesting how he tied everything together to help the reader make correlations between past and present. I particularly liked the ending and they way he incorporated more recent discoveries, such as multiple species identification with giraffes, to show how far we have come and how far we still must go to understanding every living thing.
November 9, 2023
As someone who enjoys a good nonfiction book, I will admit my knowledge of “older” history is not great so I was excited to see a book on more of the history of science. If I had known anything previously on the rivalry of Buffon and Linnaeus, i completely lost it. I enjoyed how this book brought their stories together and compared and contrasted them! The book is well written and is set up in a way that is very story like and not boring history.
I received a free advanced copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I received a free advanced copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
February 26, 2024
A little long and kind of dry at some points.
I do think the author did a good job anchoring people and events in time and history. So often we learn about people in a vacuum, without context as to what's happening in the world.
**I received my copy from Netgalley.
I do think the author did a good job anchoring people and events in time and history. So often we learn about people in a vacuum, without context as to what's happening in the world.
**I received my copy from Netgalley.
October 11, 2023
Every Living Thing is a wonderful account of the two men in a competition of their own making to name every living creature on earth. They were nearly exactly contemporaries, being born only months apart—Carl Linnaeus, born May 1707, while Buffon was born in September 1707—yet polar opposites in their approach to life. Though neither were particularly good students, they had well-functioning minds that could focus intently.
Linneaus (whose system ended up “winning”) was poor, short, and not very good looking. He started training to be a pastor but got sidetracked into botany. To support his botany habits, he sought an ersatz medical degree and leveraged himself into being the man who treated all of Swedish military’s syphilis cases. He felt that living things should be labeled in tight little boxes of similar animals as observed by man, and some of his observations led to rather bizarre couplings and included animals such as the hydra (which he debunked as being a real animal).
In the other corner, tall, good looking, wealthy Georges-Louis de Buffon, who kept the French royal gardens felt that life was too complex to categorize in ill-fitting boxes and favored a more dynamic approach. He built a forest around his home and devised experiments to see which woods responded best to what sort of treatment. His thinking was quite advanced for the time as he co-invented some mathematical theories and worked with probability. Charles Darwin, a century later had to admit that Buffon’s theories of evolution were much like Darwin’s own.
Each sincerely thought that the world contained a limited number of species, and each spent much of their lives trying to catalog these. The French Revolution did in poor Monsieur de Buffon, leaving us with a cumbersome archaic system that is getting further and further out of date as more and more species are discovered. The story of the rivalry of these two men is a fascinating look at the birth of biology and botany.
Linneaus (whose system ended up “winning”) was poor, short, and not very good looking. He started training to be a pastor but got sidetracked into botany. To support his botany habits, he sought an ersatz medical degree and leveraged himself into being the man who treated all of Swedish military’s syphilis cases. He felt that living things should be labeled in tight little boxes of similar animals as observed by man, and some of his observations led to rather bizarre couplings and included animals such as the hydra (which he debunked as being a real animal).
In the other corner, tall, good looking, wealthy Georges-Louis de Buffon, who kept the French royal gardens felt that life was too complex to categorize in ill-fitting boxes and favored a more dynamic approach. He built a forest around his home and devised experiments to see which woods responded best to what sort of treatment. His thinking was quite advanced for the time as he co-invented some mathematical theories and worked with probability. Charles Darwin, a century later had to admit that Buffon’s theories of evolution were much like Darwin’s own.
Each sincerely thought that the world contained a limited number of species, and each spent much of their lives trying to catalog these. The French Revolution did in poor Monsieur de Buffon, leaving us with a cumbersome archaic system that is getting further and further out of date as more and more species are discovered. The story of the rivalry of these two men is a fascinating look at the birth of biology and botany.
February 28, 2024
This book is a cautionary tale both in succession planning and the influence of religion on science. I thought I knew about taxonomy, but Every Living Thing showed me I knew pretty much nothing. If you are looking for a compelling story behind how the classification of life came to be I heartily recommend this book.
Despite having a degree in biochemistry, I had never heard Buffon, but had of course heard of Linnaeus. In exploring both of their lives and the impacts of their contributions, Jason Roberts shows exactly why many folks who study science had no idea of Buffon's existence.
The first two parts of the book explore the lives and work of Linnaeus and Buffon. This juxtaposition was fascinating given how different the two were in their upbringing and philosophies. Roberts' writing is engaging and I was sucked into both of their stories. I also very much enjoyed the quotes from Buffon, Linnaeus and their contemporaries along with the illustrations of their work. I was amazed at how progressive Buffon's ideas were especially given the time in which he lived. While Buffon and Linnaeus were the focal points, there were so many different characters throughout their lives and afterward. Roberts provides an excellent picture of these figures and you come to know both Linnaeus and Buffon throughout the text.
The final part of the book discusses chaos in the aftermath of their deaths, particularly Buffon in context with the French revolution. I was captivated by the threads that connect modern science and evolution back to these men. As an aside, it is disappointing that people in 1860 refuted evolution for the same reasons people refute it now [religion].
All in all, highly recommend. Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me an advanced reader copy to review.
Despite having a degree in biochemistry, I had never heard Buffon, but had of course heard of Linnaeus. In exploring both of their lives and the impacts of their contributions, Jason Roberts shows exactly why many folks who study science had no idea of Buffon's existence.
The first two parts of the book explore the lives and work of Linnaeus and Buffon. This juxtaposition was fascinating given how different the two were in their upbringing and philosophies. Roberts' writing is engaging and I was sucked into both of their stories. I also very much enjoyed the quotes from Buffon, Linnaeus and their contemporaries along with the illustrations of their work. I was amazed at how progressive Buffon's ideas were especially given the time in which he lived. While Buffon and Linnaeus were the focal points, there were so many different characters throughout their lives and afterward. Roberts provides an excellent picture of these figures and you come to know both Linnaeus and Buffon throughout the text.
The final part of the book discusses chaos in the aftermath of their deaths, particularly Buffon in context with the French revolution. I was captivated by the threads that connect modern science and evolution back to these men. As an aside, it is disappointing that people in 1860 refuted evolution for the same reasons people refute it now [religion].
All in all, highly recommend. Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me an advanced reader copy to review.
April 22, 2024
“Every Living Thing” offers a profound exploration into the history of classifying life on earth, with a primary focus on Linnaeus and Buffon.
The book is dense but is ab excellent dive into the history of taxonomy. Reading this just perfectly coincided with the recent news of a speciation proposal for two ecotypes of killer whales in the North Pacific, which stirred up lots of talk about speciation and taxonomy.
The author takes readers through the lives of both Linnaeus and Buffon, and following their deaths continues to trace the notable names as the science of classification moved forward to what we know today. Through this, the author does touch on the issues with varying classification systems and ways of thinking, especially the use of Linnaeus’s classification of races to inform racial pseudoscience and white supremacy. One thing that wasn’t touched on much but would have been a good addition is the intersection of these classification systems and colonization.
As I read, I found myself gravitating more to Buffon’s perspectives. Seeing nature as fluid is more intuitive but science has benefited from being able to (mostly) neatly categorize life. The book does a great job explaining these nuances and just why classification has been beneficial (an example being how speciation can help with conservation work today).
The interwoven religious issues to Linnaeus and Buffon’s work was very interesting and something I hadn’t thought much on. Buffon was impressive for defying the dominate religious beliefs regarding nature.
Overall, I think this is a great read to dive into the history of taxonomy and fields of biology (& even genetics!)
I received a free ARC via NetGalley for this book. Thank you to NetGalley, publisher and author!
The book is dense but is ab excellent dive into the history of taxonomy. Reading this just perfectly coincided with the recent news of a speciation proposal for two ecotypes of killer whales in the North Pacific, which stirred up lots of talk about speciation and taxonomy.
The author takes readers through the lives of both Linnaeus and Buffon, and following their deaths continues to trace the notable names as the science of classification moved forward to what we know today. Through this, the author does touch on the issues with varying classification systems and ways of thinking, especially the use of Linnaeus’s classification of races to inform racial pseudoscience and white supremacy. One thing that wasn’t touched on much but would have been a good addition is the intersection of these classification systems and colonization.
As I read, I found myself gravitating more to Buffon’s perspectives. Seeing nature as fluid is more intuitive but science has benefited from being able to (mostly) neatly categorize life. The book does a great job explaining these nuances and just why classification has been beneficial (an example being how speciation can help with conservation work today).
The interwoven religious issues to Linnaeus and Buffon’s work was very interesting and something I hadn’t thought much on. Buffon was impressive for defying the dominate religious beliefs regarding nature.
Overall, I think this is a great read to dive into the history of taxonomy and fields of biology (& even genetics!)
I received a free ARC via NetGalley for this book. Thank you to NetGalley, publisher and author!
March 8, 2024
Thank you to Jason Roberts, Random House, and NetGalley for providing me with a free ebook in exchange for an honest review.
This book was OUTSTANDING!!! I would highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in the history of the life sciences and especially evolution.
This book is ostensibly about two men, Carl Linnaeus and Georges-Louis de Buffon, both of whom were determined to find a way to catalogue all of the various animals, plants, and minerals that were being discovered at a rapidly increasing rate. At the time (mid-18th century) there was no standardized method of naming a newly discovered life-form and this made it impossible to know if this new discovery was, in fact, new at all or just a re-identification of an already known species.
The author presents the history of these two men, their theories, and the scientific fields that they contributed to in order to bring out the differences between their approaches to the problem, and eventually their contributions to the many fields of science today. The author does a magnificent job of making what could otherwise be a dry history book into a great page turner. He immerses the reader into the thoughts, beliefs, and prejudices of the time so that the theories that are put forth by various scientists and contested by others are revealed within the context of their times, rather than as a correct or incorrect theory as viewed from the 21st century.
I understand the fundamentals of biology much better for having read this book. It was truly amazing!
This book was OUTSTANDING!!! I would highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in the history of the life sciences and especially evolution.
This book is ostensibly about two men, Carl Linnaeus and Georges-Louis de Buffon, both of whom were determined to find a way to catalogue all of the various animals, plants, and minerals that were being discovered at a rapidly increasing rate. At the time (mid-18th century) there was no standardized method of naming a newly discovered life-form and this made it impossible to know if this new discovery was, in fact, new at all or just a re-identification of an already known species.
The author presents the history of these two men, their theories, and the scientific fields that they contributed to in order to bring out the differences between their approaches to the problem, and eventually their contributions to the many fields of science today. The author does a magnificent job of making what could otherwise be a dry history book into a great page turner. He immerses the reader into the thoughts, beliefs, and prejudices of the time so that the theories that are put forth by various scientists and contested by others are revealed within the context of their times, rather than as a correct or incorrect theory as viewed from the 21st century.
I understand the fundamentals of biology much better for having read this book. It was truly amazing!
February 14, 2024
I took my time reading this and it was worth it. This exploration & comparison of the lives of Buffon and Linnaeus started with descriptions of the early lives of both men. During this, both were treated fairly equally in terms of appreciation for their early lives. Once the book transitioned to their professional careers, however, the authors preference begins clear.
Linnaeus is shown as a self-aggrandizing opportunist whose few contributions to natural history were overshadowed by the harm he did in other ways.
Buffon is shown as a man ahead of his time. One who, given fewer limitations, could have moved science forward even further than he did.
These characterizations are probably correct given the history. Throughout the author used quotes and examples of the works by the two men to illustrate their accomplishments and the results of what they accomplished. He continues part their deaths to show their impact on science and to explain how each of them is tenderness by history and science.
This is a great book if you love scientific history and are curious how politics affected western science in the 18th century. I wholly recommend it to anyone who teaches biology in particular to add a dimension to their explanation of nomenclature and scientific discoveries.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.
Linnaeus is shown as a self-aggrandizing opportunist whose few contributions to natural history were overshadowed by the harm he did in other ways.
Buffon is shown as a man ahead of his time. One who, given fewer limitations, could have moved science forward even further than he did.
These characterizations are probably correct given the history. Throughout the author used quotes and examples of the works by the two men to illustrate their accomplishments and the results of what they accomplished. He continues part their deaths to show their impact on science and to explain how each of them is tenderness by history and science.
This is a great book if you love scientific history and are curious how politics affected western science in the 18th century. I wholly recommend it to anyone who teaches biology in particular to add a dimension to their explanation of nomenclature and scientific discoveries.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.
April 27, 2024
Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.
Every Living Thing is a vibrantly told narrative of the early race for classification of the natural world related by Jason Roberts. Released 9th April 2024 by Penguin Random House, it's 432 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats.
Academic rivalries are certainly nothing new. Here, the author provides parallel biographies of two very well known natural historians/scientists whose compulsion to categorize life on planet earth still resonate down to the present: Georges-Louis de Buffon and Carl Linnaeus.
The book is sparsely but well illustrated throughout, with numerous monochrome facsimile documents, paintings, and photos. The book is also very well annotated throughout, and the chapter notes and bibliography will provide readers with many hours of further reading.
Four and a half stars. This is not a rigorous academic monograph, but quite accessible and entertaining for the layman. It would be an excellent choice for public library, home use, or gift giving to fans of natural history and nonfiction.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
Every Living Thing is a vibrantly told narrative of the early race for classification of the natural world related by Jason Roberts. Released 9th April 2024 by Penguin Random House, it's 432 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats.
Academic rivalries are certainly nothing new. Here, the author provides parallel biographies of two very well known natural historians/scientists whose compulsion to categorize life on planet earth still resonate down to the present: Georges-Louis de Buffon and Carl Linnaeus.
The book is sparsely but well illustrated throughout, with numerous monochrome facsimile documents, paintings, and photos. The book is also very well annotated throughout, and the chapter notes and bibliography will provide readers with many hours of further reading.
Four and a half stars. This is not a rigorous academic monograph, but quite accessible and entertaining for the layman. It would be an excellent choice for public library, home use, or gift giving to fans of natural history and nonfiction.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
Read
November 24, 2023It is fascinating to read about the need for order. This wonderful book gives us insights in the different methods and styles of two scientists that were on a mission to identify and categorize all living things on earth. The two people were so different, and therefore so were their methods. Carl Linnaeus was a doctor, who bought his degree in the Netherlands, and scrounged for work and recognition for his way of looking at the world in categories. The Frenchman, Georges Louis de Buffon, was a well-educated aristocrat who was the keeper of the Royal Gardens, and worked countless hours in his own vast estates to learn about science and the natural world. The way they organized the world, and how they viewed life, still has ramifications today.
Buffon created the work “Reproduction,” worked in early genetics and prototyping and wanted to be open to see how things evolved. Linnaeuse, with his more religious training, was more rigid in his beliefs, even though he gave us the concept of mammal, primate, and Homo Sapien.
This is a must read and a delightful book. Easy to understand and reads very much like a novel. Compelling story telling and very approachable.
Buffon created the work “Reproduction,” worked in early genetics and prototyping and wanted to be open to see how things evolved. Linnaeuse, with his more religious training, was more rigid in his beliefs, even though he gave us the concept of mammal, primate, and Homo Sapien.
This is a must read and a delightful book. Easy to understand and reads very much like a novel. Compelling story telling and very approachable.
December 17, 2023
This is a fascinating book and I recommend it to anyone who has an interest in the natural world, particularly in how animals and plants came to be categorized and given scientific names. I had read about Linnaeus, and was surprised to find that he really didn't have much of a scientific background, and that he was wrong about practically everything. Wrong or not, he left an indelible stamp on biology as we know it, particularly with the custom of identifying living things by genus and species. He gave our species the name of Homo Sapiens. He also had a famous rivalry with another man also interested in natural science, Georges Louis de Button. The title is a nod to the desire of both men to name 'every living thing' on the earth.
I received an e-ARC of this book from the publisher Random House via NetGalley and voluntarily read and reviewed it.
I received an e-ARC of this book from the publisher Random House via NetGalley and voluntarily read and reviewed it.
November 19, 2023
This book meets all of my requirements for a great non-fiction book and then some. Roberts does a stupendous job of telling the story of "Every Living Thing" and the great pioneers of science that helped to create our modern basis of understanding life. Roberts is able to breakdown such a broad topic into stories that grab the reader's attention in a way that is not oversimplified or overcomplicated. As Buffon states, "Far from becoming discouraged, the philosopher should applaud nature," Roberts accomplishes this task by writing a book that is a great celebration of nature.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for this ARC!
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for this ARC!
April 6, 2024
Two 18th-century titans embarked on an ambitious quest to catalog all life on Earth. Linnaeus, a charismatic Swedish doctor, championed rigid categories, while Buffon, a French polymath, envisioned nature as an ever-evolving tapestry. Their contrasting philosophies shaped divergent perspectives on nature and humanity’s place within it.
This sweeping history of the science of biology is a captivating tale of discovery. The engaging storytelling kept my interest while revealing a unique perspective on the efforts to catalog life.
Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.
This sweeping history of the science of biology is a captivating tale of discovery. The engaging storytelling kept my interest while revealing a unique perspective on the efforts to catalog life.
Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.
December 3, 2023
I loved this book. One could reasonably think that a book about taxonomy could be a dry read. But in Jason Robert’s capable hands, the subject comes alive (no pun intended). The writing is compelling and the book reads more like a novel. The tone is conversational and any science is clearly explained without the use of jargon. There was a lot of biographical information but no whitewashing of personalities. I recommend this book to anyone interested in biology. Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for the advance reader copy.
March 26, 2024
4.5 up to 5 rating in honor of his passing after this final work in a series I've much enjoyed.
This is man who loved his work and his life as he loved his family and friends. Contented as we all hope to be. I feel like I've known him and am feeling a bit sentimental.
Herriot writes fictionalized stories of his life as a country vetrinarian in England, Yorkshire Dales. Be sure to read Goodreads author bio above about James Herriot to see how these are semi-autobiographical. His writing is wonderful because he can express sincere feelings so well. His novels are considered to be classics on some family bookshelves. Children once read them in classrooms in the 1970s and 80s.
Sad to think this is the final novel in such a popular a series. This one is 342 pages of easy-going pleasure, good feelings, some smiles and laughs; occasional sadness; life’s lessons. These stories make me nostalgic for my favorite childhood memories of my grandparents and their cattle ranch at the end of a valley with mountains to the Canadian border (in Washington state). I respect the hard-working farmers and enjoy their ways. English and American farmers sound so similar in all but localized idioms. He writes with spirit of a warm heart, with love of life.
There is quite a remarkable story about a shopkeeper and his cat - how much they resemble each other and are affected by one another in sickness and in health. Mimicking, their personalities meld. I wonder how often that happens?
Not all farmers are fans of him or any vets. Buying another car when his old car fell apart convinced some farmers they paid for his luxury with their hard work. (They sure weren’t looking at his shabby attire!) There are cranky people along with the appreciative people and humorous stories. Like the story that follows this negative experience to lift his spirts. And the one about the suit that didn’t quite suit.
ENJOY!
This is man who loved his work and his life as he loved his family and friends. Contented as we all hope to be. I feel like I've known him and am feeling a bit sentimental.
Herriot writes fictionalized stories of his life as a country vetrinarian in England, Yorkshire Dales. Be sure to read Goodreads author bio above about James Herriot to see how these are semi-autobiographical. His writing is wonderful because he can express sincere feelings so well. His novels are considered to be classics on some family bookshelves. Children once read them in classrooms in the 1970s and 80s.
Sad to think this is the final novel in such a popular a series. This one is 342 pages of easy-going pleasure, good feelings, some smiles and laughs; occasional sadness; life’s lessons. These stories make me nostalgic for my favorite childhood memories of my grandparents and their cattle ranch at the end of a valley with mountains to the Canadian border (in Washington state). I respect the hard-working farmers and enjoy their ways. English and American farmers sound so similar in all but localized idioms. He writes with spirit of a warm heart, with love of life.
There is quite a remarkable story about a shopkeeper and his cat - how much they resemble each other and are affected by one another in sickness and in health. Mimicking, their personalities meld. I wonder how often that happens?
Not all farmers are fans of him or any vets. Buying another car when his old car fell apart convinced some farmers they paid for his luxury with their hard work. (They sure weren’t looking at his shabby attire!) There are cranky people along with the appreciative people and humorous stories. Like the story that follows this negative experience to lift his spirts. And the one about the suit that didn’t quite suit.
ENJOY!
May 7, 2024
As someone very interested in zoology and classification, this book was the perfect demonstration of how our wish to put nature in clearly labeled boxes can backfire when trying to see the big picture. I’m a little ashamed to admit that I do enjoy the neat structure of binomial nomenclature/ (the heavily revised and modern) Linnaean classification system, and had never heard of Buffon before this book. Reading this was a wonderful experience, but I would only recommend this to people that really want to know more about the history of classification.
December 13, 2023
Every Living Thing presents the lives of two encyclopedia writers, Carl Linnaeus and Georges-Louis de Buffon. Both men set off on a quest to catalog all human knowledge. It's very interesting to learn about the lives of scientists responsible for taxonomies and classifications. This is a fun and quirky duel biography about two important figures in the classification of natural knowledge. Those interested in science, systems, and history will enjoy this.
May 5, 2024
This would be a good book for an academic interested in the history of cataloging nature but unfortunately it was a little dry for me. It did recover some of my memories of school science class and the need to memorize the orders of some things from kingdom down to species, and now knowing a little of the history of the categorization, it makes a little more sense. There were some interesting anecdotes that gave a look into the personal lives of those in the field at that time.
May 17, 2024
A brilliant book that not only succeeds in putting us vividly in the mindset of eighteenth century biologists Carl Linnaeus and the lesser known Georges-Louis de Buffon, but also provides a fascinating thread of how their pioneering ideas exerted influence over much subsequent history and the present day. The achievements of Linnaeus are well known, but here, those of Buffon receive some long overdue recognition.
April 3, 2024
It's always difficult for me to rate a non fiction book. However, this book was just not for me. The writing seemed superfluous and was to inflate the ego of the author and of these long deceased scientists. I typically enjoy reading about the evolution of science and the key players, but I really could not enjoy or get into the flow.
Thanks Netgalley for an advanced reading copy.
Thanks Netgalley for an advanced reading copy.
May 9, 2024
I do not read a ton of non-fiction but when I do, I enjoy reading about the natural world. This book is an account of two scientists in competition to name and categorize all living creatures on earth. Carl Linnaeus and Georges-Louis de Buffon were people that I knew essentially nothing about prior to reading this book. I enjoyed that the author was able to tell the story of both of these men while still showing their personalities. The book is very well written.
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May 12, 2024Very detailed historical narrative science.
February 14, 2024
I took my time reading this and it was worth it. This exploration & comparison of the lives of Buffon and Linnaeus started with descriptions of the early lives of both men. During this, both were treated fairly equally in terms of appreciation for their early lives. Once the book transitioned to their professional careers, however, the authors preference begins clear.
Linnaeus is shown as a self-aggrandizing opportunist whose few contributions to natural history were overshadowed by the harm he did in other ways.
Buffon is shown as a man ahead of his time. One who, given fewer limitations, could have moved science forward even further than he did.
These characterizations are probably correct given the history. Throughout the author used quotes and examples of the works by the two men to illustrate their accomplishments and the results of what they accomplished. He continues part their deaths to show their impact on science and to explain how each of them is tenderness by history and science.
This is a great book if you love scientific history and are curious how politics affected western science in the 18th century. I wholly recommend it to anyone who teaches biology in particular to add a dimension to their explanation of nomenclature and scientific discoveries.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.
Linnaeus is shown as a self-aggrandizing opportunist whose few contributions to natural history were overshadowed by the harm he did in other ways.
Buffon is shown as a man ahead of his time. One who, given fewer limitations, could have moved science forward even further than he did.
These characterizations are probably correct given the history. Throughout the author used quotes and examples of the works by the two men to illustrate their accomplishments and the results of what they accomplished. He continues part their deaths to show their impact on science and to explain how each of them is tenderness by history and science.
This is a great book if you love scientific history and are curious how politics affected western science in the 18th century. I wholly recommend it to anyone who teaches biology in particular to add a dimension to their explanation of nomenclature and scientific discoveries.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.
January 18, 2024
Finished ! I love watching the Yorkshire vet on tv, and reading these books about james Herriot and his adventures as a vet are just as good. Veterinary medicine has come such a long way but the things they had to do and deal with back in the day is so interesting to know. And in large animal practise some of the old fashioned ways are still used. James Herriot was a wonderful man and an amazing vet. His story’s I will always enjoy and I look forward to reading more from his collection.
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