Not many of us consider nested questions such as the one about the history of 鈥渘atural history鈥�. Here, as a subject in its own right, is Cultures of Natural History by Nicholas Jardine, J. A. Secord and E. C. Spray (Cambridge University Press, 拢65/$89.95, ISBN 0 521 45394 1).
Comprising 24 essays, academic writers contemplate the philosophical and cultural implications of changing attitudes to natural history since the Renaissance. A hundred illustrations help you on your way 鈥� and you鈥檒l save 拢40 if you buy the paperback.