Article ID: CBB001213477

What's in a Name? Place, Peoples and Plants in the Danish-Halle Mission, c. 1710--1740 (2013)

unapi

Whitmer, Kelly Joan (Author)


Annals of Science: The History of Science and Technology
Volume: 70, no. 3
Issue: 3
Pages: 337-356


Publication Date: 2013
Edition Details: Part of a special issue, “In Kind: Species of Exchange in Early Modern Science”
Language: English

This paper explores the collecting practices of German Protestant missionaries who lived in southern India (c. 1710--1740) as part of the Danish-Halle mission. Asked by their patrons to describe local plants, in situ, these individuals did not respond by carefully studying and describing the plants themselves. Despite being in a position to do this work, instead they chose mostly to engage local residents in conversations about the cultures of the plants in question. These conversations revolved around the origins and meanings of plant names. The missionaries used names, local histories and accounts of peoples as tools for understanding plants found in specific places and to resolve confusion over the similarities and differences between various kinds. They practiced a form of ethno-botany that made the culture(s) of plants accessible to those who would never be able to actually travel to the region.

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Description “Explores the collecting practices of German Protestant missionaries who lived in southern India (c. 1710--1740) as part of the Danish-Halle mission.” (from the abstract)


Included in

Article Smith, Justin E. H.; Delbourgo, James (2013) In Kind: Species of Exchange in Early Modern Science. Annals of Science: The History of Science and Technology (pp. 299-304). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB001213477/

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Authors & Contributors
Bleichmar, Daniela
Sweetman, Will
Loring, Lorna M.
Tavolacci, Laura
Ines G. Županov
Laurence Lippi
Concepts
Botany
Scientific expeditions
Missionaries and missions
Classification
Natural history
Botanical gardens
Time Periods
18th century
19th century
20th century
17th century
Medieval
20th century, early
Places
India
Colombia
Spain
Germany
Tahiti
Moravia
Institutions
Paris. Jardin Royal des Plantes
Holländischer Garten (Schönbrunn)
Jesuits (Society of Jesus)
British East India Company
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