Book ID: CBB251966402

Sex, Botany and Empire: The Story of Carl Linnaeus and Joseph Banks (2017)

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Fara, Patricia (Author)


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Publication Date: 2017
Physical Details: 264 pages
Language: English

Enlightenment botany was replete with sexual symbolism―to the extent that many botanical textbooks were widely considered pornographic. Carl Linnaeus's controversial new system for classifying plants based on their sexual characteristics, as well as his use of language resonating with erotic allusions, provoked intense public debate over the morality of botanical study. And the renowned Tahitian exploits of Joseph Banks―whose trousers were reportedly stolen while he was inside the tent of Queen Oberea of Tahiti―reinforced scandalous associations with the field. Yet Linnaeus and Banks became powerful political and scientific figures who were able to promote botanical exploration alongside the exploitation of territories, peoples, and natural resources. Sex, Botany, and Empire explores the entwined destinies of these two men and how their influence served both science and imperialism. Patricia Fara reveals how Enlightenment botany, under the veil of rationality, manifested a drive to conquer, subdue, and deflower―all in the name of British empire. Linnaeus trained his traveling disciples in a double mission―to bring back specimens for the benefit of the Swedish economy and to spread the gospel of Linnaean taxonomy. Based in London at the hub of an international exchange and correspondence network, Banks ensured that Linnaeus's ideas became established throughout the world. As the president of the Royal Society for more than forty years, Banks revolutionized British science, and his innovations placed science at the heart of trade and politics. He made it a policy to collect and control resources not only for the sake of knowledge but also for the advancement of the empire. Although Linnaeus is often celebrated as modern botany's true founder, Banks has had a greater long-term impact. It was Banks who ensured that science and imperialism flourished together, and it was he who first forged the interdependent relationship between scientific inquiry and the state that endures to this day.

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Authors & Contributors
Müller-Wille, Staffan
Wulf, Andrea
Veuille, Michel
Toma, Constantin
Sjöberg, Cajsa
Silvain, Jean-François
Concepts
Botany
Classification in biology
Biology
Scientific illustration
Systematic botany
Science and government
Time Periods
18th century
19th century
17th century
Places
Great Britain
Sweden
France
Romania
Institutions
Lund. Universitet
Uppsala Universitet
Linnean Society of London
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