Ok I'm bored and want to procrastinate work so let's do a thread instead. Wanna hear a story?

Alright then, story it is. So gather around, children, because now we're going to talk about the most important science book you've probably never heard of.

Ready? Off we go, then.

April 08, 2026 - 23:27 UTC

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The book in question is of course, De Historia Pisicium ie A History of Fishes by Francis Willughby and John Ray, first published all the way back in 1686.

Yes, A History of Fishes was written by Ray, let's get that out of the way first. Now, to the book.
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No. It’s the one where Ms. Frizzle takes the class into Ralphie’s body
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Damn, he was British. I was hoping he was a Finn.
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See,a History of Fishes was no ordinary book. Indeed, it was one of the most expensive books ever made, 2/3rd of which went towards the 187 individually carved copper plates in it. Published by the Royal Society, its calculated as being equivalent in cost to 11 yrs of wages for a skilled tradesman.
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I am madly curious what made you (1) know this story exists; (2) want to track it down.

I call myself a "mental magpie" - shiny interesting things, facts, histories, etc. - and you might be one as well? So I am curious.
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This is insane and just sent me down a million rabbit holes THAT ARE ALL AWESOME
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like okay Newton STOPPED DOING MATH AND PHYSICS AFTER WRITING IT UP AND WENT INTO THE ROYAL MINT TO CATCH COUNTERFEITERS AND HE WAS SUPER GOOD AT IT
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Saving this for later.
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This was great, thanks Unc
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Yes! Neil deGrasse Tyson told this story in the Cosmos series.
Not as funny as your telling of it.
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Because that man cannot tell a fucking joke to save his life
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This was an outstanding thread.
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🎶 Don’t know much about a science book 🎵
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But I do know one and one is two.
Unlike that Wilhelm Liebniz dude 😡
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In the plague years
To my estate I took
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I was prepared for The History of Rices tbh
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