Alexander the Great orders Aristotle to investigate plants and animals
King Alexander the Great had a burning desire to acquire a knowledge of zoology, and delegated research in this field to Aristotle, a man of supreme authority in every branch of science. Orders were given to some thousands of people throughout the whole of Asia Minor and Greece--people who made their living by hunting, cathcing birds, and fishing, as well as those in charge of warrens, herds, apiaries, fish-ponds and aviaries: they were to see that he was informed about any creature born in any region. The result of his inquiries from such people led to the publication, in nearly fifty volumes, of his famous work On Animals. I ask my readers to be favourably disposed to my presentation of this information--together with facts of which Aristotle was unaware--while making their brief excursion under my direction into all the works of Nature.