Article ID: CBB606760697

Studying “useful plants” from Maria Theresa to Napoleon: Continuity and invisibility in agricultural science, northern Italy, the late eighteenth to early nineteenth century (2021)

unapi

This article analyzes Italian research and experimentation on the economic potential of certain plant species in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, also providing insight into beekeeping and honey production. It focuses on continuity of method and progress across regimes and on the invisibility of many of the actors involved in the development of agricultural science and food research. Specifically, “continuity” refers to the continuation of certain threads of Old-Regime experimentation by the scientific apparatus put in place during the Napoleonic era. These threads were reworked and strengthened with the new means available to Frenchified Europe. The concept of “invisibility” derives from an expression by Steven Shapin and refers to actors who contributed to the development of agricultural science while remaining in the shadows. These include various types of technicians and members of rural society who supported the scientific work of scholars without receiving overt recognition. Continuity and invisibility were therefore two fundamental components both in the epistemological development of agricultural science and in the improvement of food research. The article analyzes case studies mainly from northern Italy – or rather, the various geopolitical entities existing in this geographical region – during the late Old Regime and the Napoleonic era, comparing them with examples from all over Europe.

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Authors & Contributors
Giuliano Pinto
Jennifer Bonnell
Anja Timmermann
Andrea Zagli
Kerkhoff, Kathinka Sinha
Josh England
Concepts
Agriculture
Economic botany; plant cultivation; horticulture
Environmental history
Food science; food technology
Food and foods
Farmers
Time Periods
19th century
18th century
17th century
Early modern
20th century
20th century, early
Places
United States
Italy
England
Spain
Tuscany (Italy)
Great Lakes (North America)
Institutions
United States. Dept. of Agriculture
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