Description: Strangely beautiful, utterly unique, "Specimens of Hair" presents the obsessive work of a 19th-century amateur naturalist who collected hundreds upon hundreds of specimens of hair--animal and human, Including thirteen of the first fourteen U.S. presidents--in his quest to understand the mysteries of the natural world.
Brief description: Robert McCracken Peck is a naturalist, writer, and historian with a special interest in the intersection of science, history, and art. As Senior Fellow of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia (now part of Drexel University), he has chronicled historical and contemporary scientific research expeditions. Among Peck's most recent books are The Natural History of Edward Lear and A -Glorious Enterprise: The Academy of Natural Sciences of -Philadelphia, co-authored with Patricia T. Stroud.
Review Quotes: "Buried deep in the archives of the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia is a remarkable set of 12 bound volumes containing a collection of what one 19th-century amateur naturalist believed--30 years before Charles Darwin's "Descent of Man" was published--would unravel the mystery of human evolution: specimens of hair gathered from animals and people from all over the globe, including hair samples from 13 of the first U.S. presidents. More than 100 photographs accompany Peck's account of the story behind these obsessively handcrafted volumes." --Publishers Weekly