When the imperial explorer James Cook returned from his first voyage to Australia, scandal writers mercilessly satirised the amorous exploits of his botanist Joseph Banks, whose trousers were reportedly stolen while he was inside the tent of Queen Oberea of Tahiti. Was the pursuit of scientific truth really what drove Enlightenment science?
In Sweden and Britain, both imperial powers, Banks and Carl Linneaus ruled over their own small scientific empires, promoting botanical exploration to justify the exploitation of territories, peoples and natural resources. Regarding native peoples with disdain, these two scientific emperors portrayed the Arctic North and the Pacific Ocean as uncorrupted Edens, free from the shackles of Western sexual mores.
In this 'absorbing' (Observer) book, Patricia Fara reveals the existence, barely concealed under Banks' and Linnaeus' camouflage of noble Enlightenment, of the altogether more seedy drives to conquer, subdue and deflower in the name of the British Imperial state.
BOOK OF THE WEEK - A brilliant middle-grade story celebrating friendship, magic and fighting for change.
Can you solve the puzzles to save the Kingdom? Put your puzzle skills to the test with mazes, word games and codes to crack!
Young readers will love this gorgeous picture book about a chilled capybara who just won't be rushed.
This is Book 1 in the Icon Science Series. See all Icon Science books here.
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Patricia Fara is a Fellow of Clare College at the University of Cambridge, where she teaches history of science. Previous books include Newton: The Making of Genius (Macmillan, 2001) and An Entertainment for Angels (Icon, 2001).
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