Sex, Botany and Empire (Icon Science): The Story of Carl Linnaeus and Joseph Banks - Couverture souple

Fara, Patricia

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 1785782274 ISBN 13 : 9781785782275

Editeur : Icon Books, 2017

Synopsis

When the imperial explorer James Cook returned from his first voyage to Australia, scandal writers mercilessly satirised the amorous exploits of his botanist Joseph Banks, whose trousers were reportedly stolen while he was inside the tent of Queen Oberea of Tahiti. Was the pursuit of scientific truth really what drove Enlightenment science?







In Sweden and Britain, both imperial powers, Banks and Carl Linneaus ruled over their own small scientific empires, promoting botanical exploration to justify the exploitation of territories, peoples and natural resources. Regarding native peoples with disdain, these two scientific emperors portrayed the Arctic North and the Pacific Ocean as uncorrupted Edens, free from the shackles of Western sexual mores.







In this 'absorbing' (Observer) book, Patricia Fara reveals the existence, barely concealed under Banks' and Linnaeus' camouflage of noble Enlightenment, of the altogether more seedy drives to conquer, subdue and deflower in the name of the British Imperial state.

A propos du livre

À propos de l'auteur

Patricia Fara is a Senior Tutor at Clare College at the University of Cambridge, where she teaches history of science. Her other books include Newton: The Making of Genius (Macmillan, 2001) and An Entertainment for Angels (Icon, 2002).

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Icon Books
• Date d'édition: 2017
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 1785782274
• ISBN 13: 9781785782275
• Reliure: Broché
• Numéro d'édition: 2
• Nombre de pages: 176
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible