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The Noble Quest by Stephen Bown (Hardback)
£22.99
Available
Product Ref. (e.g. ISBN, SKU)
9781837050482
Published:
12 Feb 2026
Format:
Hardback
Dimensions:
234mm
Weight:
0.000kgs
Author:
Profiling 9 important naturalists of the pre-Darwinian age who set off to quantify, categorize and rationally explain the New World
During the golden age of science, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, there was a dedicated drive to accurately categorise nature and explain the natural world. Many enthusiastic naturalists, amateur and professional, set off to collect and classify plants and animals across the New World, and many of these finds still bear the names of those who discovered them today. The Noble Quest, previously Sightseers & Scholars: Scientific Travellers in the Golden Age of Discovery, features a new introduction that considers the growing catastrophic trend in species extinction today. The nine important individuals featured in the book encompass early naturalists William Bartram and Alexander von Humboldt; inquisitive aristocrats Charles Waterton and Prince Maximilian of Wied; professional collectors David Douglas, John Kirk Townsend and John Richardson; and last field naturalists Henry Walter Bates and John Wesley Powell. All faced great adventures and hardship, as they undertook their groundbreaking work.
About the Author: STEPHEN BOWN is a critically acclaimed author of many award-winning literary non-fiction books on the history of science, exploration and ideas. He takes a biographical and narrative approach to my writing, using the techniques of fiction writing - strong storytelling, creative language, emphasizing people, their decisions, actions and motivations - to tell factually and historically accurate stories. He lives in Canada.
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| First Item | 2 Items & Over | |
|---|---|---|
| UK | £3.75 | £5.00 |
| EU | £15.00 | £30.00 |
| USA & Canada | £30.00 | £50.00 |
| Rest of the World | £45.00 | £60.00 |
| Collect in Store | free | free |
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