What did people in the 16th century know about animals? Now you can find out. The National Library of Medicine has put a virtual copy of Conrad Gesner’s Historiae Animalium online.
From Metafilter: “A virtual copy of Historiae Animalium, the first pictorial catalogue of the animal world . . . It was compiled in the 16th century by the Swiss naturalist Conrad Gessner, who is considered the father of zoology (and, incidentally, also the father of bibliography).”
This is very fun and interactive (you can have English summaries of each page of Latin text read to you), and the technology opens a world of opportunities. The following YouTube video from the British Library explains their “Turning the Pages” technology, and how Vista might enhance it.
cool