New Science From Old News
Presenting " Sea monsters in the early modern Portuguese production and transfer of knowledge about the natural world " Capture, trade and collection of marine animals - specimens, remains and products, stories and illustrations - has a documented history that changed dramatically with the European Overseas expansion. Since the 15th and 16th century many exotic animals and several accounts, descriptions and representations, were brought to Europe opening up a new period in the global economy of Nature and in the making of the natural history. Most European naturalists, and practitioners, showed an ability to observe and comprehend the new (local and distant) natural world. Naturalists n their cabinets, through their connections or local journeys, greatly enlarged the knowledge about Nature. But the accounts from pilots, travelers, traders, missionaries and other, offered a significant contribute to the writing of a new Natural History. Moreover, local people in different