The Language of Mineralogy: John Walker, Chemistry and the Edinburgh Medical School, 1750-1800

"Classification is an important part of science, yet the specific methods used to construct Enlightenment systems of natural history have proven to be the bete noir of studies of eighteenth-century culture. One reason that systematic classification has received so little attention is that natural history was an extremely diverse subject which appealed to a wide range of practitioners, including wealthy patrons, professionals, and educators. In order to show how the classification practices of a defined institutional setting enabled naturalists to create systems of natural history, this book focuses on developments at Edinburgh's medical school, one of Europe's leading medical programs. In particular, it concentrates on one of Scotland's most influential Enlightenment naturalists, Rev Dr John Walker, the professor of natural history at the school from 1779 to 1803."--BOOK JACKET.

Matthew D. Eddy is a Lecturer at the University of Durham, UK.