Gilbert White

Gilbert White was a "parson-naturalist", a pioneering English naturalist and ornithologist. More than any other writer, Gilbert White has shaped the relationship between man and nature. A hundred years before Darwin, White realised the crucial role of worms in the formation of soil and understood the significance of territory and song in birds. His precise, scrupulously honest and unaffectedly witty observations led him to interpret animals' behaviour in a unique manner. He is best known for his Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne, and remained unmarried and a curate all his life.