Editing Natural history (section)

==History==

===Prehistory===
Prior to the advent of [[History of science|Western science]] humans were engaged and highly competent in indigenous ways of understanding the more-than-human world that are now referred to as [[traditional ecological knowledge]]. 21st century definitions of natural history are inclusive of this understanding, such as this by Thomas Fleischner of the Natural History Institute (Prescott, Arizona):<blockquote>

Natural history – a practice of intentional focused attentiveness and receptivity to the more-than-human world, guided by honesty and accuracy – is the oldest continuous human endeavor. In the evolutionary past of our species, the practice of natural history was essential for our survival, imparting critical information on habits and chronologies of plants and animals that we could eat or that could eat us. Natural history continues to be critical to human survival and thriving. It contributes to our fundamental understanding of how the world works by providing the empirical foundation of natural sciences, and it contributes directly and indirectly to human emotional and physical health, thereby fostering healthier human communities. It also serves as the basis for all conservation efforts, with natural history both informing the science and inspiring the values that drive these.<ref name="Fleischner-2025">{{cite journal |last1=Fleischner |first1=Thomas Lowe |title=The enduring and elemental importance of natural history |journal=The Ecological Citizen |date=2025 |volume=8 |issue=1 |url=https://www.ecologicalcitizen.net/pdfs/epub-115.pdf}}</ref></blockquote>

===Ancient===
[[File:ViennaDioscoridesPlant.jpg|right|thumb|upright|[[Blackberry]] from the sixth-century ''[[Vienna Dioscurides]]'' manuscript]]

As a precursor to [[History of science|Western science]], natural history began with [[Aristotle]] and other ancient philosophers who analyzed the diversity of the natural world. Natural history was understood by [[Pliny the Elder]] to cover anything that could be found in the world, including living things, geology, astronomy, technology, art, and humanity.<ref name=Pliny>{{cite book | title=Natural History: A Selection | publisher=Penguin Classics | author=Pliny the Elder | year=2004 | isbn=978-0-14-044413-1}}</ref>

{{lang|la|[[De Materia Medica (Dioscorides)|De Materia Medica]]}} was written between 50 and 70 AD by [[Pedanius Dioscorides]], a Roman physician of Greek origin. It was widely read for more than 1,500 years until supplanted in the [[Renaissance]], making it one of the longest-lasting of all natural history books.

From the [[ancient Greeks]] until the work of [[Carl Linnaeus]] and other 18th-century naturalists, a major concept of natural history was the ''scala naturae'' or [[Great Chain of Being]], an arrangement of minerals, vegetables, more primitive forms of animals, and more complex life forms on a linear scale of supposedly increasing perfection, culminating in our species.<ref name=Lovejoy1964>{{citation |date=1964 | orig-year=1936 |author=Arthur O. Lovejoy |author-link=Arthur Oncken Lovejoy |title=The Great Chain of Being: A Study of the History of an Idea |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5u3HZjTpkTgC |place=Cambridge, Massachusetts |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=0-674-36153-9}}</ref>

===Medieval===
Natural history was basically static through the [[Middle Ages]] in Europe—although in the [[Arabic]] and [[Oriental]] world, it proceeded at a much brisker pace. From the 13th century, the work of Aristotle was adapted rather rigidly into [[Christian philosophy]], particularly by [[Thomas Aquinas]], forming the basis for [[natural theology]]. During the Renaissance, scholars (herbalists and humanists, particularly) returned to direct observation of plants and animals for natural history, and many began to accumulate large collections of exotic specimens and unusual [[monster]]s. [[Leonhart Fuchs]] was one of the three founding fathers of botany, along with [[Otto Brunfels]] and [[Hieronymus Bock]]. Other important contributors to the field were [[Valerius Cordus]], [[Konrad Gesner]] ({{Lang|la|[[Historiae animalium (Gesner)|Historiae animalium]]}}), [[Frederik Ruysch]], and [[Gaspard Bauhin]].<ref name="natural">"[http://www.historyofscience.com/G2I/timeline/index.php?category=Natural+History Natural History Timeline] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101231172609/http://www.historyofscience.com/G2I/timeline/index.php?category=Natural+History |date=2010-12-31 }}". HistoryofScience.com.</ref> The rapid increase in the number of known organisms prompted many attempts at classifying and organizing species into [[taxonomy (biology)|taxonomic groups]], culminating in the system of the Swedish naturalist [[Carl Linnaeus]].<ref name="natural"/>

The British historian of Chinese science [[Joseph Needham]] calls [[Li Shizhen]] "the 'uncrowned king' of Chinese naturalists",<ref>Needham, J., & Ling, W. (1976). ''Science and civilization in China'' (Vol. 5, part.3, p. 216). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press</ref> and his ''[[Bencao gangmu]]'' "undoubtedly the greatest scientific achievement of the Ming".{{quote without source|date=October 2021}} His works translated to many languages direct or influence many scholars and researchers.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}}

===Modern===
<!-- Off topic? Biology isn't NH -->
[[File:Buffon 1707-1788.jpg|upright|thumb|[[Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon|Georges Buffon]] is best remembered for his ''[[Histoire naturelle]]'', a 44-volume encyclopedia describing quadrupeds, birds, minerals, and some science and technology. Reptiles and fish were covered in supplements by [[Bernard Germain de Lacépède]].]]<!-- Not discussed in text, no refs! -->

A significant contribution to English natural history was made by [[parson-naturalist]]s such as [[Gilbert White]], [[William Kirby (entomologist)|William Kirby]], [[John George Wood]], and [[John Ray]], who wrote about plants, animals, and other aspects of nature. Many of these men wrote about nature to make the [[natural theology]] argument for the existence or goodness of God.<ref name="Armstrong2000">{{cite book|author=Patrick Armstrong|title=The English Parson-naturalist: A Companionship Between Science and Religion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hB0hEc4CN3wC|access-date=31 March 2013|year=2000|publisher=Gracewing Publishing|isbn=978-0-85244-516-7}}</ref> Since early modern times, however, a great number of women made contributions to natural history, particularly in the field of botany, be it as authors, collectors, or illustrators.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://womeninbotany.ur.de/ |title=Women in Botany |access-date=2019-12-19 |archive-date=2019-09-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190903110914/https://womeninbotany.ur.de/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In modern Europe, professional disciplines such as botany, geology, [[mycology]], [[palaeontology]], [[physiology]], and [[zoology]] were formed. ''Natural history'', formerly the main subject taught by college science professors, was increasingly scorned by scientists of a more specialized manner and relegated to an "amateur" activity, rather than a part of science proper. In Victorian Scotland,  the study of natural history was believed to contribute to good mental health.<ref>{{Citation |journal=Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences |title='An aid to mental health': natural history, alienists and therapeutics in Victorian Scotland| author=Finnegan, Diarmid A. |year=2008 |volume=39 |pages=326–337 | doi=10.1016/j.shpsc.2008.06.006| pmid=18761284| issue=3}}</ref> Particularly in Britain and the United States, this grew into specialist hobbies such as the [[Ornithology|study of birds]], butterflies, seashells ([[malacology]]/[[conchology]]), beetles, and wildflowers; meanwhile, scientists tried to define a unified discipline of biology (though with only partial success, at least until the [[modern synthesis (20th century)|modern evolutionary synthesis]]). Still, the traditions of natural history continue to play a part in the study of biology, especially ecology (the study of natural systems involving living organisms and the inorganic components of the Earth's biosphere that support them), [[ethology]] (the scientific study of animal behavior), and [[evolutionary biology]] (the study of the relationships between life forms over very long periods of time), and re-emerges today as integrative organismal biology.

Amateur collectors and natural history entrepreneurs played an important role in building the world's large natural history collections, such as the [[Natural History Museum, London]], and the [[National Museum of Natural History]] in Washington, DC.

Three of the greatest English naturalists of the 19th century, [[Henry Walter Bates]], [[Charles Darwin]], and [[Alfred Russel Wallace]]—who knew each other—each made natural history travels that took years, collected thousands of specimens, many of them new to science, and by their writings both advanced knowledge of "remote" parts of the world—the [[Amazon basin]], the [[Galápagos Islands]], and the [[List of islands of Indonesia|Indonesian Archipelago]], among others—and in so doing helped to transform biology from a descriptive to a theory-based science.

The understanding of "Nature" as "an organism and not as a mechanism" can be traced to the writings of [[Alexander von Humboldt]] (Prussia, 1769–1859). Humboldt's copious writings and research were seminal influences for Charles Darwin, [[Simón Bolívar]], [[Henry David Thoreau]], [[Ernst Haeckel]], and [[John Muir]].<ref>[[Andrea Wulf]] (2015),''[[The Invention of Nature]]'', Knopf {{page needed|date=March 2018}}</ref>