In Trying Leviathan: The Nineteenth-Century New York Court Case That Put the Whale on Trial and Challenged the Order of Nature, D. Graham Burnett examines James Maurice v. Samuel Judd (1818), a three-day trial in which Judd, an oil merchant, argued that Maurice, the inspector, did not have the authority to collect his fee on fish oil since whale oil came from a whale, not a fish. Burnett argues that the case affords "a valuable opportunity to contribute to a growing revisionist literature that has called into question a dominant narrative in the history of science - a narrative that considers the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries the 'golden age' of classificatory sciences" (pg. 194). According to Burnett, from the perspective of those claiming lay expertise in the natural world, "the early nineteenth century looked less like a taxonomic calm before the Darwinian storm..., and more like an era of instability and change, when established orders were under siege and taxonomic expertise various and hotly contested" (pg. 194). The laypeople struck back at the threat they perceived from the social and political elites, deciding after a three-day trial that whales were fish. Burnett writes, "The verdict, by these lights, struck a blow for plain folk everywhere" (pg. 179). These same conflicts parallel the issues modern American society currently faces. As Burnett argues, "the case provides...a compelling example of the perennially reciprocal constitution of natural and social orders" (pg. 146). Burnett draws upon a wide breadth of background, including the backgrounds of the principals in the trial, various writings about whales and marine life from the period, and sources examining the social changes occurring in turn of the century Manhattan. Burnett offers a fascinating look at this period, but loses focus at times. Despite this, the volume is required reading for anyone interested in the history of science. ( )

A history of the court case where the crucial question was: Is a whale a fish or a mammal? The author gives a great deal of detail, spinning out the history of taxonomy and whaling to set a background for a case that in the end was a dispute between two powerful business groups, both determined to win, and not caring if they made a total fool out of science in the process. This case included a bit of everything: anti-intellectualism, capitalism, government regulators, science, history, and the common man. For people who believe that the anti-science mood in this country is recent, cases like this demonstrate that the roots of anti-intellectualism and anti-science go deep in America. In the end, though, science had the last laugh, as almost no one would insist a whale is a fish today. Decent reading; a bit pedantic. ( )

Did you know that a New York jury in 1818 determined that a whale was a fish? I didn't, but I do now, thanks to D. Graham Burnett's Trying Leviathan: The Nineteenth-Century New York Court Case That Put the Whale on Trial and Challenged the Order of Nature (Princeton University Press, 2007). Burnett takes as his subject the notable case of Maurice vs. Judd, in which an inspector of fish oil sued a merchant for $75, the cost of inspecting three barrels of whale oil. Judd, the merchant, claimed that the statute mandating inspections didn't cover his oil, since the law read "fish oil" and his came from whales. A trial ensued over whether the statute applied (and hence, whether "fish oil" included whale oil or not, and thus, whether whales were fish or not).

Featuring the testimony of taxonomists, whalers, merchants and legal experts, the trial offers a great example of the conflict between science, government, and common perception (some things never change). As Burnett writes, this case provides a look into the "contested territory of zoological classification," and he offers a brief but deep look at the problematic nature of cetacean classification through history. He also examines the question from the point of view of whalers (those "on the ground," so to speak), using evidence from logbooks, diaries, and, naturally, Moby-Dick, and he also digs into the question from the perspective of oil merchants and leather manufacturers (those most directly concerned with the practical issues at hand).

Burnett did his homework in writing this book, and it shows. The footnotes (positioned right at the bottom of the page where they belong) are both complete and instructive, and the bibliography is rich (my "to read" list expanded greatly just with the titles from this book). A readable and excellent book which brings an important but forgotten moment to life in fine style.

http://philobiblos.blogspot.com/2008/07/book-review-trying-leviathan.html ( )