Excerpt: Alexander Adams seems, if unconsciously, to be following in the footsteps of Donald Culross Peattie. Like Peattie, he wrote a volume on Audubon and then essayed a biographical survey of a number of important naturalists. Eternal Quest is the latter, and interestingly enough, it is the first book of its precise kind since Peattie\u27s Green Laurels (1936) to evoke the same emotion

Wilkinson, Ronald S

English

Valparaiso University

The Great Lakes Entomologist Volume 3 Number 1 -- Spring 1970 Number 1 -- Spring 1970 Article 6 July 2017 Eternal Quest: The Story of the Great Naturalists. Alexander B. Adams. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1969. 509 pp. $10.95. Ronald S. Wilkinson Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle  Part of the Entomology Commons Recommended Citation Wilkinson, Ronald S. 2017. "Eternal Quest: The Story of the Great Naturalists. Alexander B. Adams. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1969. 509 pp. $10.95.," The Great Lakes Entomologist, vol 3 (1) Available at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle/vol3/iss1/6 This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Biology at ValpoScholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Great Lakes Entomologist by an authorized administrator of ValpoScholar. For more information, please contact a ValpoScholar staff member at scholar@valpo.edu. 32 THE MICHIGAN ENTOMOLOGIST Vol. 3, No. 1 ETERNAL QUEST: THE STORY OF THE GREAT NATURALISTS. Alexander B. Adams. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. 1 9 6 9 . 5 0 9 ~ ~ .  $10.95. Alexander Adams seems, if unconsciously, to be following in the footsteps of Donald Culross Peattie. Like Peattie, he wrote a volume on Audubon and then essayed a biographical survey of a number of important naturalists. Eternal Quest is the latter, and interestingly enough, it is the first book of its precise kind since Peattie's Green Laurels (1936) to evoke t h e  same emotion. Eternal Quest is a popularization of the history of science, written for a non-professional audience, but it is the sort of book that accomplishes more in the long run that a professional treatise. Like the immensely popular Green Laurels, Adams' work will urge others to the study of biology through the often inspiring examples of early investigators. Beginning with man's earliest natural speculations, Adams weaves a sprightly narrative of biological endeavor that ends with Mendel, T. H. Morgan and the discovery of DNA. His in-depth portraits are scholarly and sound; they provide no  fresh information, but are not  meant t o  do  so. Undeniably we need a popular biographical narrative of the history of biology every twenty-five years or  so, which will take into account the scholarship produced in the interim. Eternal Quest succeeds adi~lirably in this spccific role. It is recommended especially t o  students, but professional biologists and even the fact-hardened historian of science will find it good reading. Adams even points a moral, but it is not such a bad one; writing of the naturalists, he comments that "in these confused times we might well take t o  heart the lessons their lives so closely reveal to us and learn that problems are conquered only by fresh and open minds. We might also respect what they have taught us about natural history: that man is not  necessarily here t o  stay unless he can find a better means of preserving himself and his environment." R. S. W. BOOKS RECEIVED FOR REVIEW THE LEPlDOPTERA OF NEW YORK AND NEIGHBORING STATES. William T. M. Forbes. Vol. I. Ithaca; Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station, 1923. Reprinted by Entomological Reprint Specialists, East Lansing, Michigan, 1969. LEPlDOPTERA PUPAE: Five collected works o n  the pupae of North American Lepidoptera. Edna Mosher. 1914-18. Reprinted by Entornological Reprint Specialists, East Lansing, Michigan. 1969. AQUATIC DIPTERA. 0 .  A. Johannsen and Lillian C. Thomsen. Ithaca: Cornell University Agricult~~ral Experiment Station, 1934-34-37. Reprinted by Entomological Reprint Specialists, East Lansing, Michigan, 1969. A SHORT HISTORY O F  THE BROWN-TAIL MOTH. William Curtis. London, 1782. Reprinted by The Curwen Press, Plaistow, EnglaAd, 1969. 1Wilkinson: Eternal Quest: The Story of the Great NaturalistsPublished by ValpoScholar, 2017

Eternal Quest: The Story of the Great Naturalists. Alexander B. Adams. New York: G.P. Putnam\u27s Sons, 1969. 509 pp. $10.95.

ValpoScholar

The Great Lakes Entomologist 
Volume 3 
Number 1 -- Spring 1970 Number 1 -- Spring 
1970 
Article 6 
July 2017 
Eternal Quest: The Story of the Great Naturalists. Alexander B. 
Adams. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1969. 509 pp. $10.95. 
Ronald S. Wilkinson 
Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle 
 Part of the Entomology Commons 
Recommended Citation 
Wilkinson, Ronald S. 2017. "Eternal Quest: The Story of the Great Naturalists. Alexander B. Adams. New 
York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1969. 509 pp. $10.95.," The Great Lakes Entomologist, vol 3 (1) 
Available at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle/vol3/iss1/6 
This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Biology at ValpoScholar. It has 
been accepted for inclusion in The Great Lakes Entomologist by an authorized administrator of ValpoScholar. For 
more information, please contact a ValpoScholar staff member at scholar@valpo.edu. 
32 THE MICHIGAN ENTOMOLOGIST Vol. 3, No. 1 
ETERNAL QUEST: THE STORY OF THE GREAT NATURALISTS. Alexander B. Adams. 
New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. 1 9 6 9 . 5 0 9 ~ ~ .  $10.95. 
Alexander Adams seems, if unconsciously, to be following in the footsteps of Donald 
Culross Peattie. Like Peattie, he wrote a volume on Audubon and then essayed a 
biographical survey of a number of important naturalists. Eternal Quest is the latter, and 
interestingly enough, it is the first book of its precise kind since Peattie's Green Laurels 
(1936) to evoke t h e  same emotion. 
Eternal Quest is a popularization of the history of science, written for a non-professional 
audience, but it is the sort of book that accomplishes more in the long run that a 
professional treatise. Like the immensely popular Green Laurels, Adams' work will urge 
others to the study of biology through the often inspiring examples of early investigators. 
Beginning with man's earliest natural speculations, Adams weaves a sprightly narrative of 
biological endeavor that ends with Mendel, T. H. Morgan and the discovery of DNA. His 
in-depth portraits are scholarly and sound; they provide no  fresh information, but are not  
meant t o  do  so. Undeniably we need a popular biographical narrative of the history of 
biology every twenty-five years or  so, which will take into account the scholarship produced 
in the interim. Eternal Quest succeeds adi~lirably in this spccific role. It is recommended 
especially t o  students, but professional biologists and even the fact-hardened historian of 
science will find it good reading. Adams even points a moral, but it is not such a bad one; 
writing of the naturalists, he comments that "in these confused times we might well take t o  
heart the lessons their lives so closely reveal to us and learn that problems are conquered 
only by fresh and open minds. We might also respect what they have taught us about natural 
history: that man is not  necessarily here t o  stay unless he can find a better means of 
preserving himself and his environment." 
R. S. W. 
BOOKS RECEIVED FOR REVIEW 
THE LEPlDOPTERA OF NEW YORK AND NEIGHBORING STATES. William T. M. 
Forbes. Vol. I. Ithaca; Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station, 1923. Reprinted 
by Entomological Reprint Specialists, East Lansing, Michigan, 1969. 
LEPlDOPTERA PUPAE: Five collected works o n  the pupae of North American 
Lepidoptera. Edna Mosher. 1914-18. Reprinted by Entornological Reprint Specialists, East 
Lansing, Michigan. 1969. 
AQUATIC DIPTERA. 0 .  A. Johannsen and Lillian C. Thomsen. Ithaca: Cornell University 
Agricult~~ral Experiment Station, 1934-34-37. Reprinted by Entomological Reprint 
Specialists, East Lansing, Michigan, 1969. 
A SHORT HISTORY O F  THE BROWN-TAIL MOTH. William Curtis. London, 1782. 
Reprinted by The Curwen Press, Plaistow, EnglaAd, 1969. 
1
Wilkinson: Eternal Quest: The Story of the Great Naturalists
Published by ValpoScholar, 2017


https://scholar.valpo.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1121&amp;context=tgle

Eternal Quest: The Story of the Great Naturalists. Alexander B. Adams. New York: G.P. Putnam\u27s Sons, 1969. 509 pp. $10.95.

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