Constantine Samuel Rafinesque, Solo Naturalist

Constantine Samuel Rafinesque (1783-1840) exemplified the hallmarks of authentic scientific genius. From birth to death, he lived it. Born in Turkey, raised in France, and traveling later to Italy, Sicily, America and elsewhere, his parents traveled so much with him he had only one year of formal school. There was not time to even make friends. Reading books early in life stimulated an endless curiosity with burning desires to learn and publish something about every subject in the universe! Constantine pioneered the study of natural history, took copious notes in the field, and collected hundreds of thousands of plant and animal specimens. Imagine becoming a naturalist of renown and getting to make the journey, solo, through nature’s fields and outdoors as your classroom! Constantine went unappreciated by his peers, who disliked him intensely because he lacked university training. Rafinesque deserves honor for his never-ending environmental studies.Amburgey, Don is the author of 'Constantine Samuel Rafinesque, Solo Naturalist', published 2007 under ISBN 9781424112616 and ISBN 1424112613.