Examines ideas about the natural order (that is, about the ecology and classification of living things), from the 18th century to the present era, in cultural and political context. Retraces the West's quest for an explanation of living creation in terms of life forces and their interaction with a changing Earth, a quest which ultimately arrived at Darwin's theory of evolution. Also examines the major historical developments that set the stage for these scientific developments in an age of dramatic political and economic revolution, and at the ongoing impacts of the Darwinian world-view.