Historians and sociologists of science usually discuss multiple independent inventions or multiple independent discoveries in terms of priority disputes among the inventors. But what should we make of the multiple invention of a technology that not only gave rise to very few priority disputes, but never worked and was rejected by each inventor's contemporaries as soon as it was made public? This paper examines seven such situations in the history of botany. I devote particular attention to the inventors' cultural and educational backgrounds, in particular, the scholastic education most of them shared, through which they would have become familiar with Llullian combinatorics and the mnemonic names used to distinguish syllogistic moods. I also examine their conceptions of the roles of nomenclature in botany, their assumptions about how memory works, their awareness of other similar efforts, and their contemporaries' reactions to their proposals. Finally, I reflect on the impacts that a consideration of multiple independent inventions of failed technologies may have on current approaches to the history and sociology of science.
...More
Chapter
Raynal-Roques, Aline;
Roguenant, Albert;
(2008)
Nommer et classer les plantes: un parcours de trois siècles
(/isis/citation/CBB001221150/)
Book
Friedrich, Christoph;
Bernschneider-Reif, Sabine;
(2003)
Rosarium litterarum: Beiträge zur Pharmazie- und Wissenschaftsgeschichte: Festschrift für Peter Dilg zum 65. Geburtstag
(/isis/citation/CBB000780042/)
Article
Welter-Schultes, F. W.;
Klug, R.;
Lutze, A.;
(2008)
Les Figures des plantes et animaux d'usage en medecine, a Rare Work Published by F. A. P. de Garsault in 1764
(/isis/citation/CBB000931209/)
Article
Cook, Alexandra;
(2010)
Linnaeus and Chinese Plants: A Test of the Linguistic Imperialism Thesis
(/isis/citation/CBB001022706/)
Article
Toma, Constantin;
Murariu, Dumitru;
(2007)
300 Years since the Birth of Carl von Linné---Founder of the Binomial Nomenclature
(/isis/citation/CBB000831547/)
Article
Delange, Yves;
(2007)
Carl Linné ou le génie de la classification des régnes du vivant
(/isis/citation/CBB000831546/)
Article
Roderick Fensham;
(2022)
Rumphius and Eucalyptus
(/isis/citation/CBB437224073/)
Article
Fernández Medina, Rita Daniela;
(2012)
Algunas reflexiones sobre la clasificación de los organismos vivos
(/isis/citation/CBB001420601/)
Book
Michael Köhncke;
(2019)
Rattus, Mus und Pantholops – Säugetiere und ihre Namensgeber. Ein Blick in die Geschichte der Zoologie von 1758 bis 1849. Dargestellt an den Autorender Säugetiergattungen in Wort und Bild. 100 biographische Skizzen und 500 Gattungen.
(/isis/citation/CBB691457684/)
Article
Dickinson, Edward C.;
Bruce, Murray D.;
Dowsett, Robert J.;
(2006)
Vivarium naturae or the naturalist's miscellany (1789-1813) by George Shaw: An Assessment of the Dating of the Parts and Volumes
(/isis/citation/CBB000772492/)
Book
Prat, Daniel;
Raynal-Roques, Aline;
Roguenant, Albert;
(2008)
Peut-on classer le vivant?: Linné et la systématique aujourd'hui
(/isis/citation/CBB001221140/)
Article
Müller-Wille, S.;
(2013)
Systems and How Linnaeus Looked at Them in Retrospect
(/isis/citation/CBB001320280/)
Article
Scharf, Sara T.;
(2009)
Identification Keys, the “Natural Method,” and the Development of Plant Identification Manuals
(/isis/citation/CBB000932209/)
Article
Smith, Justin E. H.;
Delbourgo, James;
(2013)
In Kind: Species of Exchange in Early Modern Science
(/isis/citation/CBB001320274/)
Book
Veuille, Michel;
Drouin, Jean-Marc;
Deleporte, Pierre;
Silvain, Jean-François;
(2008)
Linnaeus: Systématique et biodiversité
(/isis/citation/CBB001221073/)
Article
Sauer, Hans;
Krischke, Ulrike;
(2004)
Die altenglischen Pflanzennamen aus linguistischer und lexikographischer Sicht
(/isis/citation/CBB000501341/)
Thesis
Marcon, Federico;
(2007)
The Names of Nature: The Development of Natural History in Japan, 1600--1900
(/isis/citation/CBB001560689/)
Article
Plumb, Christopher;
(2010)
“Strange and Wonderful”: Encountering the Elephant in Britain, 1675--1830
(/isis/citation/CBB001032697/)
Article
Cheung, Tobias;
(2010)
What Is an “Organism”? On the Occurrence of a New Term and Its Conceptual Transformations 1680--1850
(/isis/citation/CBB001034544/)
Article
Timothée Léchot;
Guilhem Mansion;
(2022)
L’adoubement linnéen de Rousseau: James Edward Smith taxonomiste et la Roussea simplex
(/isis/citation/CBB363901289/)
Be the first to comment!