Searching For Order

Product Description

Searching for Order traces the search for order in the natural world a search that for hundreds of years occupied some of the most brilliant minds in Europe. Redefining mans relationship with nature was an important feature of the Renaissance. But in a world full of plagues & poisons there was also a practical need to name & recognise different plants: most medicines were made from plant extracts. Anna Pavord takes us on a thrilling adventure into botanical history travelling from Athens in the third century BC through Constantinople Venice the medical school at Salerno to the universities of Pisa & Padua. The journey traced here for the first time involves the culture of Islam the first expeditions to the Indies & the first settlers in the New World. In Athens Aristotles pupil Theophrastus is the first man ever to write a book about plants. What should these things properly be called he asks. How can we sort & order them? The debate continues still two thousand years later. Gradually over a long period in Europe plants assumed identities & acquired names. Artists painted the first pictures of them. Plants acquired the two-part names that show how they are related to other plants. But who began all this work & how was it done? Searching for Order gives a compelling insight into a world full of intrigue & intensely competitive egos.