‫مستكشفو الطبيعة: المغامرون الذين وثقوا عجائب العالم الطبيعي‬

by London Natural History Museum (Editor), سعد صبار السامرائي (Translator)

يعرض هذا الكتاب مغامرات عددٍ من المستكشفين الذين وثقوا لنا عجائب العالم الطبيعي. ويصحبنا في رحلة تستغرق ثلاثة قرون يتناول خلالها حياة ٢٣ مستكشفاً، ويُدقق النظر في العينات التي جمعوها، والرسائل التي كتبوها، والفنون التي ابتكروها لتخليد أسمائهم واكتشافاتهم، التي باتت إرثاً علمياً وثقافياً شاخصاً لأجيال اليوم. ومن الشخصيات التي يتناولها الكتاب علماء مثل تشارلز داروين وألفريد راسل والاس وجوزيف بانكس، وفنانون مثل فرديناند باور وجون جيمس أودوبون، جسَّدوا روح التنوير والثورة العلمية. كما يضم الكتاب عدداً كبيراً من الصور الإيضاحية لعجائب الحياة الحيوانية والنباتية، ويرينا العالم بعيون هؤلاء الرحالة الأوائل ويوضح المصاعب التي واجهوها وهم يشقّون الغابات الاستوائية الكثيفة، أو يعبرون المّمرات الجبلية العالية، أو يجتازون حقول الجليد الغادرة والصحاري المقفرة، أو يسبرون أعماق المحيطات السحيقة

Genres: Science, History

310 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 13, 2025

Reviews

[Thomas Land · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic introduction to a number of explorers and adventurers with the aim of discovering...well, nature. There were people I had heard about and studied, but I was introduced to others, opening my eyes for an even better look at the tenacity and human drive to discover and uncover in the name of science and, joint on these expeditions with science, art. Also it was refreshing to see to female faces that set a landmark in the world of entomology and natural history art, in a very male dominated time of the Victorian/Edwardian periods.

Some of the entries (Humboldt's and Wallace's) fell a little short choosing to focus more on social pressures and issues the men faced rather than there scientific endeavour. However this could be because (with Darwin), these are two of the characters I know the best and maybe have an opinion on which exploratory achievements should be written about more than others.

Overall a really good introduction to some legends of natural history and exploration.

[Lloyd Downey · Rating 3 out of 5]

It promised a lot and actually covered a lot of different explorers (a number of whom I hadn't known). And the illustrations were generally good. But maybe the writers had been tasked with the job of delivering an article by a certain deadline and their hearts were not in it. . At least that 's what is seemed like. For example, there is an article on Alexander von Humbolt which is fine as far as it goes but it says nothing about his interest in measuring the earth's magnetic fields nor on his incredible journey into Siberia. And, to me, this means either the writer was lazy, or given insufficient space, because it was, presumably not because of a lack of knowledge about Humbolt.
And that's the fundamental problem with this sort of book. It's a series of short illustrated essays and, I guess, it's pretty hard to condense the life and contributions of luminaries such as Joseph Hooker, Humbolt, or Joseph Banks into a few pages. It's good as far as it goes....the pictures certainly help and I guess the Natural History Museum (the Publisher) has plenty of material to draw upon. I give it three stars.

[Brenda Greene · Rating 2 out of 5]

Short precis of 23 naturalists ftom the 1800s to early 1900s along with a large number of full colour illustrations throughout, some full page. The illustrations carry the book. Unfortunately the writing is very patchy, the style varies both within each chapter and between chapters. The content of each chapter follows no consistent format. It reads as if 10 people and one collator who never provided guidance were given two naturalists each. Some discuss the art, some the journeys and the people they met, some the location of where seeds, plants and animals collected were kept. It's a jumbled mess. I expected do much more from a natural history museum.

[Carolyn Crocker · Rating 3 out of 5]

More for delightful browsing than reading straight through, the brief accounts of explorers' lives and contributions to science are beautifully illustrated with their art. Maria Sibylla Merian and Margaret Elizabeth Fountaine both entomologists, are the only women; many of the illustrations sadly are of creatures now extinct.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brilliant overview