Includes bibliographical references and index.

Preliminary Material / A. M. Roos -- Chapter One. Introduction / A. M. Roos -- Chapter Two. Early Life And Letters, 1639–1663 / A. M. Roos -- Chapter Three. French Connection: The Voyage To Montpellier, 1663–1666 / A. M. Roos -- Chapter Four. Lister’s Early Contributions To Natural History, 1666–1668: The Influence Of John Ray / A. M. Roos -- Chapter Five. Spider Threads And A Tangled Web Of Misunderstanding, 1668–1671 / A. M. Roos -- Chapter Six. \'My Dear Hart\': Lister’s Marriage To Hannah Parkinson And His Medical Practice In York / A. M. Roos -- Chapter Seven. Lister And The Royal Society’s Debates About Plant Circulation In The 1670s / A. M. Roos -- Chapter Eight. Animal, Vegetable, Or Mineral? Lister, Ray, Crinoids, And The Fossil Debate In The Royal Society / A. M. Roos -- Chapter Nine. \'All That Glitters\': Martin Lister And Fools’ Gold, 1677–1684 / A. M. Roos -- Chapter Ten. A Speculum Of Chemical Practice: Lister, Newton, And Telescopic Mirrors / A. M. Roos -- Chapter Eleven. Lister’s London Beginnings: Virtuoso, Antiquarian, And Benefactor / A. M. Roos -- Chapter Twelve. The Art Of Science: The Historiae Conchyliorum And The Historia Piscium / A. M. Roos -- Chapter Thirteen. Publication And Prestige: The Sex Exercitationes Medicinales And The Royal College Of Physicians / A. M. Roos -- Chapter Fourteen. The Spice Of Life: A Journey To Paris And A Cookery Book / A. M. Roos -- Epilogue. Lister’s Portrait And The Tragedy Of Burwell Park / A. M. Roos -- Bibliography / A. M. Roos -- Index / A. M. Roos.

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This first full-length biography of Dr. Martin Lister (1639-1712), vice-president of the Royal Society, Royal Physician, and the first arachnologist and conchologist, provides an unprecedented picture of a seventeenth-century virtuoso. Lister is recognized for his discovery of ballooning spiders and as the father of conchology, but it is less well known that he invented the histogram, provided Newton with alloys, and donated the first significant natural history collections to the Ashmolean Museum. Just as Lister was the first to make a systematic study of spiders and their webs, this biography is the first to analyze the significant webs of knowledge, patronage, and familial and gender relationships that governed his life as a scientist and physician.