A lengthy, detailed, and fascinating examination of the life and works of Aristotle with the position that Aristotle was the first scientist, and that since his proposed mechanisms (see the brilliant appendices) haven't aged well, his thoughts and techniques have been unjustly ignored or belittled.
This alone would be sufficient for me, but there are many interesting associated ideas here including the detective work necessary to locate Aristotle's workplace in Lesbos and to determine which animals he is referring to, the discussions of Aristotle's relationship to Darwin, the history and philosophy of biological taxonomy, some comparative anatomy to explain the source of Aristotle's classifications, some embryology, and some animal physiology and evolutionary biology to explain Aristotle's discussion of the relationship among animal size, longevity, and fecundity. As a seeming bonus we also read the author's comments on Aristotle's theory of the structure of the universe and his views on human society – including whether all modern battles over inequality ultimately turn on the question of whether "natural slaves" exist and, if so, how to distinguish them from "legal slaves".
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Words of interest include apophthegm (an aphorism, and Grammarly recommends spelling it apothegm), and although I knew that chorion and cotyledon came from the Greek, I did not know that they came so directly from the Greek.
Interesting quotes include Bertrand Russell Aristotle was the first man to write like a professor,
and Borges It has been said that all men are born either Aristotelians or Platonists.
I also liked the author's That the physical theory is wrong is irrelevant; in the long run, all physical theories are. and to be reminded of the expressions Natura non facit saltum (that Darwin liked), and the origin of virtus dormitiva. ( )

Needed a better editor - a bit TOO much detail. ( )

Aristotle's writings on biology are at the center of his oeuvre. This is brought out in some depth by Armand Leroi in this book that tells the story of how Aristotle founded science in classical Greece. The details of this science are explored beginning with Aristotle's numerous observations. The book goes on to discuss the profound ideas and theories he developed from these observations. While this book can be enjoyed on its own I would recommend that readers consider pairing it with readings from some of Aristotle's famous works such as History of Animals and Generation of Animals. ( )

An account of Aristotle's bio/zoological investigations, centred on his home isle of Lesbos, which is perhaps over-optimistically subtitled but nonetheless a very entertaining read. Aristotle is sometimes right, more often wrong, but the important thing is the way he goes about his science, plunging his hands into (sometimes, it is hinted, live (ugh)) specimens and having a good root around before trying to make sense of what he finds. He comes across as a thoroughly good egg. I don't think the author ever really decided whether he was writing about Aristotle, or about science, or about the history of science or the scientific method, but I didn't mind the book's dilatory style. Would be a good one to read on holiday, on a beach. ( )