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On Naval Timber and Arboriculture

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First published: 1831
Pages: 227

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About this book

On Naval Timber and Arboriculture is an 1831 treatise by Patrick Matthew (1790-1874), the Scottish landowner and fruit-grower, ostensibly about growing timber for shipbuilding. Buried in its appendix is a clear statement of natural selection, written nearly three decades before Darwin's Origin of Species, a priority Darwin himself later acknowledged. The book is remembered today not for its forestry but for that startling anticipation of evolutionary theory. It remains a curiosity prized by historians of science. Free PDF download available on BDeBooks.

About the author

Patrick Matthew

Patrick Matthew combined the work of a Scottish landowner, orchardist, forester, and writer whose practical experience shaped his arguments about trees and selection. On Naval Timber and Arboriculture appeared in 1831 with critical notes on earlier planting authorities.

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