Marijka W. (marijka) reviewed on 3/22/2011

Helpful Score: 2

I've never really been a science person, so I push myself to read challenging topics. I definitely don't recommend this book for the casual reader: too detailed, too many scientific terms, reads like a 700 page book instead of only 200. Honestly, I would've been satisfied with a magazine article. :-P

HOWEVER... if you enjoy this type of thing, you will LOVE this book. It is very well written, full of obviously well-researched facts, and gives great background about the competition to categorize species and the personalities involved. And all this happened just a few years before the Civil War, as if these people were on a different planet instead of just across the ocean! Anyway, I learned enough to satisfy my curiosity and am now very willing to pass the opportunity to someone else. :-)

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