Historical Portrait of the Progress of Ichthyology, from its Origins to Our Own Time (Foundations of Natural History)

A founder of comparative anatomy and giant of 19th-century biology, Georges Cuvier began publishing his 22-volume Histoire Naturelle des Poissons in 1828. Cuvier's history became a landmark survey in the science of fishes, delving back before the Greeks to the Egyptians, Phoenicians, and Carthaginians. As an introduction to this monumental work, his first volume traced the development of the study of fishes as he understood it and outlined the criteria for classification that his own work would follow. This critically important essay -- arguably the first attempt at comprehensive marine biology -- now appears in English translation for the first time, accompanied by rich annotations.Theodore Pietsch's commentary on Cuvier's Histoire Naturelle des Poissons brings this important volume to light and highlights its historical significance. Appreciative modern readers will include ichthyologists, evolutionary biologists, and historians of science."Theodore Pietsch is a well-respected ichthyological historian particularly of pre-Linnaean periods. Those of us interested in these sorts of things should be eternally grateful to him for his time and energy in providing such a nicely edited volume that covers such a huge span of time. No one has written a comprehensive history of ichthyology and this work fills a truly major gap in early historical details." -- Brooks Burr, Southern Illinois University"This book is an important text for historians of science as well as ichthyologists." -- Alwyne Wheeler, editor Archives of Natural History