This lavishly illustrated book records some defining moments in the art of natural histor, taken from the world-famous collection of drawings at Windsor Castle. It includes masterpieces and extraordinary curiosities, in delicate drawings and exquisite watercolours, of animal, vegetable, and mineral- plus fish, insects, and reptiles too. An introductory essay gives the context of scientific thinking and the developments in natural history for each historical period, while each work illustrated is discussed in individual detail.