Contact us on (02) 8445 2300
For all customer service and order enquiries

Woodslane Online Catalogues

9780813062600 Academic Inspection Copy

Darwin's Man in Brazil

The Evolving Science of Fritz Mueller
Description
Author
Biography
Reviews
Google
Preview
Fritz Mueller (1821-1897), though not as well known as his colleague Charles Darwin, belongs in the cohort of great nineteenthcentury naturalists. In Darwin's Man in Brazil, David A. West recovers Mueller's legacy. He describes the close intellectual kinship between Mueller and Darwin, detailing a lively correspondence spanning seventeen years, in which the two men often discussed new research topics and exchanged ideas. Darwin frequently praised Mueller's powers of observation and interpretation, counting him among those scientists whose opinions he valued most. A free thinker who refused to sign the Christian oaths required of teachers in Prussia, Mueller emigrated to Brazil in 1852 to become a pioneer farmer researching tropical biology. In the 1860s he reorganized his biological research in order to test Darwin's theory of evolution. Conducting field studies to answer questions generated from a Darwinian perspective, Mueller was unique among naturalists testing Darwin's theory of natural selection because he investigated an enormous diversity of plants and animals rather than a relatively narrow range of taxa. Despite the importance and scope of his work, however, Mueller is known for relatively few of his discoveries. West remedies this oversight, chronicling the life and work of this remarkable and overlooked man of science.
David A. West (1933-2015) was associate professor emeritus of biological sciences at Virginia Tech, USA and the author of Fritz Mueller: A Naturalist in Brazil.
"This fine biography of Fritz Mueller (1821-97) explains how he helped Darwin shape his ideas on mimicry. . . . Ideal for students of natural history, historians of science, and other scholars."--Choice "A treasure trove of information for anyone interested in the development of the theory of natural selection."--Isis "Situates Mueller's research at the cutting edge of nineteenth-century natural science. Mueller emerges here . . . as an essential figure in an active and collaborative scientific network."--Quarterly Review of Biology "The depth and scope of research on this singular figure is impressive."--H-Net "Offers an unfiltered view into science of the mid-nineteenth century, when evolutionary theory had its origins. West makes this world tangible, with all of its pleasures and challenges. . . . This book is a wonderful addition to the library of any evolutionary biologist or natural historian and is a pleasant foray into the lives of nineteenth-century naturalists."--American Entomologist
Google Preview content