Natural History Thinkers Definitions

Natural history (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠nothing more than the nomination of the visible.

Natural history (n.) of ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠Linnaeus has more in common with the period's theory of money than with Darwin.

Natural history (n.) did ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠not appear because nature grew denser; it appeared because History became Natural.

Natural history (n.) lives ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠in the silent gap opened between things and words — the possibility of seeing what one will be able to say.

Natural history (n.) in ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the eighteenth century was closed to the blind man, who could perfectly well be a geometrician but not a naturalist.

Natural history (n.) would ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠be useless if experience showed nature's continuity step by step — everyday language would already have written it, and grammar would be the taxonomy of beings.

Natural history (n.) became ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a science by flattening the plant into space: classify only what the eye can see, no microscope, the old medical virtues of the plant simply dropped.

Natural history (n.) in ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠its new order pushes all the language time had deposited on things — traditions, beliefs, poetic figures — back to the last heading of an animal's chapter: Litteraria.

Natural history (n.) in ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the Classical age was less a set of new concepts than a set of rules for arranging statements — a way of writing down what one saw so as to recreate a perception.

Natural history (n.) did ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠not anticipate biology; by its very solidity and autonomy as a science of order, it excluded the constitution of a unitary science of life.

Natural history (n.) became ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a science by spatializing its object: Linnaeus classified plants only by what was visible, refused even the microscope, and let medical uses fall away.

Natural history (n.) since ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠Ray pushed the old lore of plant virtues, animal powers and secret sympathies to the margins, and kept only what is visible: form, arrangement, number, size.

Natural history (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a well-made language that must not lend credit to any etymology: it unites in one operation what everyday speech keeps apart — precise designation and controlled derivation.

Natural history (n.) had ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠Linnaeus's dream of a botanical calligram: a description whose paragraphs, type sizes and layout reproduce the plant itself, so that the book becomes a herbarium of living structures.