{"product_id":"ordering-the-myriad-things-nicholas-k-menzies-9780295749464","title":"Ordering the Myriad Things: From Traditional Knowledge to Scientific Botany in China","description":"\u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003eShortlisted for the SHNH Natural History Book Prize (John Thackray Medal) from the Society for the History of Natural History\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLonglisted for the 2023 SHNH Natural History Book Prize \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAn exploration of plant wisdom, from the Southern Mountain Tea Flower to the Dawn Redwood\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eChina's vast and ancient body of documented knowledge about plants includes horticultural manuals and monographs, comprehensive encyclopedias, geographies, and specialized anthologies of verse and prose written by keen observers of nature. Until the late nineteenth century, however, standard practice did not include deploying a set of diagnostic tools using a common terminology and methodology to identify and describe new and unknown species or properties.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eOrdering the Myriad Things\u003c\/i\u003e relates how traditional knowledge of plants in China gave way to scientific botany between the mid-nineteenth and mid-twentieth centuries, when plants came to be understood in a hierarchy of taxonomic relationships to other plants and within a broader ecological context. This shift not only expanded the universe of plants beyond the familiar to encompass unknown species and geographies but fueled a new knowledge of China itself. Nicholas K. Menzies highlights the importance of botanical illustration as a tool for recording nature--contrasting how images of plants were used in the past to the conventions of scientific drawing and investigating the transition of \"traditional\" systems of organization, classification, observation, and description to \"modern\" ones.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Nicholas K. Menzies\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0295749466\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780295749464\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of Washington Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 11\/24\/2021\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 312\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.01lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.90h x 5.98w x 0.79d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e 07\/01\/2022","brand":"Nicholas K. Menzies","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44045459095807,"sku":"9780295749464","price":32.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_6e7cd4a7-45f7-4c43-acc2-a1b42a4f348b.jpg?v=1684978876","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/ordering-the-myriad-things-nicholas-k-menzies-9780295749464","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}