What is Natural history?
[[File:Henry Walter Bates.jpg|thumb|220px|[[Henry Walter Bates]] in the [[Amazon Rainforest|Amazon]]]] [[File:Rattlesnake2.jpg|thumb|right|220px|HMS Rattlesnake<br>In the 19th century, naturalists travelled on ships like this! [[Thomas Henry Huxley]] went round the world on this ship. He found his wife in [[Sydney, Australia]]]] '''Natural history''' is the [[Research|study]] of [[plant]]s and [[animal]]s in the wild, and the [[environment]]s they live in. This includes the [[geology]] of the places in which they live. The work of naturalists is [[observation]], [[interpretation]], [[collecting]] and [[classification]], rather than [[experiment]]s. People who study natural history are called '''naturalists'''. They were among the first to explore the world. They were the first to study the [[Amazon Rainforest|Amazon]] and other [[tropical]] places. Naturalists find new [[species]] and [[Scientific classification|classify]] plants and animals. They study [[ecology]]. Naturalists developed some [[theory|theoretical]] ideas which were valuable. They noticed that living things fitted the lives they led. This was [[adaptation]]. They noticed a [[struggle for existence]] between animals. They thought they could see a [[chain of being]] from lower animals to higher, which they thought was the work of God. The idea that such things might happen by natural means began to surface in the 18th century, and become the majority view in time of [[Charles Darwin]]. Before Darwin, most naturalists did not think of themselves as scientists. When they looked at nature, perhaps as explorers, they looked at everything. They looked at the land, the people, the plants and animals. After Darwin, they did see themselves as scientists. Early on, Darwin called himself a [[geologist]]. [[Thomas Henry Huxley]] was an [[anatomy|anatomist]]. [[Joseph Dalton Hooker]] was a [[botanist]]. [[Charles Lyell]] was a [[geologist]]. They changed the way in which they were educated as well. They often took [[academic degree|degrees]] in science. Th