Abstract

The primary goal of Ulisse Aldrovandi was to surpass his immediate predecessor Conrad Gesner, despite the fact that he never mentioned it expressis verbis. In a Plinian manner he attempted to complete Aristotle's comprehensive description of the animals. Since he always made a great effort to evaluate all existing works, and to determine their degree of truth by conducting his own studies of nature, his descriptions turn out to be more comprehensive and critical than those of his predecessors. Furthermore he based his studies on a system and also incorporated anatomy again. With his studies of nature and anatomical dissections he has expanded the knowledge of scientific facts within the domain of zoology. Especially in the realm of entomology, Aldrovandi has accomplished pioneer work, and can hence be regarded as the founding father of this special field. Besides Gesner's significant work about the animal kingdom, Aldrovandi's even more comprehensive encyclopedia can be considered an important step towards the modern natural sciences.