Book ID: CBB499045594

Reassembling the Strange: Naturalists, Missionaries, and the Environment of Nineteenth-Century Madagascar (2018)

unapi

Anderson, Thomas J. (Author)


Lexington Books


Publication Date: 2018
Physical Details: 250
Language: English

This book examines how Westerners understood and processed Madagascar and its environment during the nineteenth century. Madagascar’s unique ecosystem crafted its reputation as a strange place full of unusual species. Westerners, however, often minimized Madagascar’s peculiar features to stress the commonality of its fauna and flora with the world. The attempt to understand the island through science led to a domestication of its environment that created the image of a tame and known world capable of being controlled and used by Western powers. At the heart of the exploration of Madagascar and its transformation in Western eyes from a strange world to a cash crop colony were missionaries and naturalists who relied upon global experiences to master the island by normalizing the peculiar qualities of Madagascar’s environment. This book reveals how the environment played a dominant role in understanding the island and its people, and how current environmental debates have evolved from earlier policies and discussions about the environment.

...More
Reviewed By

Review Russell Moul (2020) Review of "Reassembling the Strange: Naturalists, Missionaries, and the Environment of Nineteenth-Century Madagascar". British Journal for the History of Science (pp. 413-415). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB499045594/

Similar Citations

Book MacLeod, Roy; (2000)
Nature and Empire: Science and the Colonial Enterprise (/isis/citation/CBB000110572/)

Thesis Menon, Minakshi; (2013)
Making Useful Knowledge: British Naturalists in Colonial India, 1784--1820 (/isis/citation/CBB001567462/)

Article Fan, Fa-Ti; (2003)
Victorian Naturalists in China: Science and Informal Empire (/isis/citation/CBB000330698/)

Article Anderson, Thomas J.; (2013)
Aepyornis as Moa: Giant Birds and Global Connections in Nineteenth-Century Science (/isis/citation/CBB001213514/)

Article Monnier, Jehanne-Emmanuelle; (2013)
La Science et le Scientifique: Confronter les Points de Vue sur les Explorations d'Alfred Grandidier (/isis/citation/CBB001420262/)

Thesis Anderson, Thomas J.; (2009)
Reassembling the Strange: Global Science, Race, and the Environment of 19th Century Madagascar (/isis/citation/CBB001561060/)

Article Whitmer, Kelly Joan; (2013)
What's in a Name? Place, Peoples and Plants in the Danish-Halle Mission, c. 1710--1740 (/isis/citation/CBB001320282/)

Article Floris Solleveld; (2023)
Language as a Specimen (/isis/citation/CBB320251226/)

Article Sara Honarmand Ebrahimi; (2022)
Medical Missionaries and the Invention of the “Serai Hospital” in North-western British India (/isis/citation/CBB500519781/)

Article Palomares, Maria Lourdes D.; Heymans, Johanna J.; Pauly, Daniel; (2007)
Historical Ecology of the Raja Ampat Archipelago, Papua Province, Indonesia (/isis/citation/CBB000831351/)

Article Fernández Medina, Rita Daniela; (2012)
Algunas reflexiones sobre la clasificación de los organismos vivos (/isis/citation/CBB001420601/)

Chapter Livingstone, David N.; (2005)
Scientific Inquiry and the Missionary Enterprise (/isis/citation/CBB001022831/)

Book Kohler, Robert E.; (2006)
All Creatures: Naturalists, Collectors, and Biodiversity, 1850--1950 (/isis/citation/CBB000610301/)

Book Robert McCracken Peck; Rosamond Purcell; (2018)
Specimens of Hair: The Curious Collection of Peter A. Browne (/isis/citation/CBB864486797/)

Authors & Contributors
Anderson, Thomas J.
Irving-Stonebraker, Sarah
Honarmand Ebrahimi, Sara
Guevara, Lázaro
Floris Solleveld
Menon, Minakshi
Concepts
Natural history
Colonialism
Biological diversity; biodiversity
Missionaries and missions
Naturalists
Travel; exploration
Time Periods
19th century
18th century
20th century, early
20th century
17th century
Enlightenment
Places
India
Madagascar
Indonesia
Europe
Great Britain
Tahiti
Institutions
Natural History Museum (London, England)
Royal Society of London
Jesuits (Society of Jesus)
American Museum of Natural History, New York
Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment