Mr. Jefferson and the giant moose : natural history in early America / Lee Alan Dugatkin.

  • Dugatkin, Lee Alan, 1962-
Date:
2009
  • Books

About this work

Description

Capturing the essence of the origin and evolution of the so-called "degeneracy debates," over whether the flora and fauna of America (including Native Americans) were naturally weaker and feebler than species elsewhere in the world, this book chronicles Thomas Jefferson's efforts to counter French conceptions of American degeneracy, culminating in his sending of a stuffed moose to Buffon.

Publication/Creation

Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2009.

Physical description

xii, 166 pages : illustrations, portraits ; 24 cm

Contributors

Contents

Preface: "A moose more precious than you can imagine" -- "Dictatorial powers of the botanical gentlemen of Europe" -- The count's degenerate America -- "Noxious vapors and corrupt juices" -- "Not a sprig of grass that shoots uninteresting" -- "Geniuses which adorn the present age" -- Enter the moose -- Thirty-seven-pound frogs and Patagonian giants -- Extracting the "tapeworm of Europe" from our brain.

Bibliographic information

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Languages

Subjects

Where to find it

  • LocationStatus
    History of Medicine
    AN.6.AA7
    		Open shelves

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Identifiers

ISBN

  • 9780226169149
  • 0226169146