A Passion for Nature: Thomas Jefferson and Natural History - Softcover

Thomson, Keith

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9781882886265: A Passion for Nature: Thomas Jefferson and Natural History
Softcover
ISBN 10: 1882886267 ISBN 13: 9781882886265
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press, 2009

Synopsis

Thomas Jefferson once wrote to a friend that politics was his "duty" but natural history was his "passion." As this book shows, he was always a man for whom nature was important. With Jefferson's devotion to detailed knowledge, precise calculation, and rational inquiry, natural history related to everything he did, as a farmer, as a philosopher, and as a citizen. For all his gifts in philosophy and politics and his fascination with the American West, Jefferson was never more happy than at home at Monticello, riding across the fields and experimenting with new crops. The great wonder is that in addition to his public life he had time to be one of America's first serious students of, among other things, fossils, botany, climate, geology, and anthropology.

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About the Author

Keith Thomson was a visiting fellow at the Thomas Jefferson Foundation's Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies in 2007. He is professor emeritus of natural history at Yale University and senior research fellow of the American Philosophical Society. author of twelve other books on evolution, paleontology, and the history of science, he was previously professor and dean at Yale, president of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, and university scientist-in-residence at the New School for Social Research.

From the Inside Flap

Despite his demanding public life Thomas Jefferson somehow had time to be one of America's first serious students of fossils, botany, climate, geology, and anthropology, among other things. This volume explores his passion for natural history, highlighting how it related to everything Jefferson did--as a farmer, as a philosopher, and as a citizen.

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Publisher
The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date
2009
Language
English
ISBN 10 
1882886267
ISBN 13 
9781882886265
Binding
Paperback
Number of pages
148
Rating
  • 3.77 out of 5 stars
    22 ratings by Goodreads