Sex, Botany and Empire
UK £6.99,Canada $15.00,
UK Publication November 2004
ISBN 9781840465730
Paperback
Buy: | Waterstones| Book Depository
Nominated for the Aventis Science Prize
"Delectable" Marina Warner "An entertaining account of the appliance of science to the needs of empire." Financial Times "Absorbing...Fara makes a convincing case for Banks' historical impact." Observer "Enticing ... with a sharp eye for 18th-century mores, this is an engrossing exploration of the growth of the British Empire." Good Book Guide
'A man would not naturally expect to meet with disgusting strokes of obscenity in a system of botany, but...obscenity is the very basis of the Linnean system.' Encyclopædia Britannica (18th Century)
When imperial explorer James Cook returned from his first voyage to Australia, the 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.
But Enlightenment botany was fraught with sexual symbolism. And in Sweden and Britain, both imperial powers, Banks and Carl Linneaus ruled over their own small scientific empires, promoting botanical exploration to justify exploiting 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.
Patricia Fara reveals how, barely concealed under Banks' and Linneaus' camouflage of noble Enlightenment, were the altogether more seedy drives to conquer, subdue and deflower - in the name of the British imperial State.
--------------
This is a delectable morsel of scientific and imperial history, and the warts-and-all account of Banks and his turbulant legacy is particularly illuminating' BBC History Magazine
‘Sex, Botany and Empire is a rollicking read’ New Scientist
‘Absorbing’ Observer
‘Enticing … with a sharp eye for 18th-century mores, this is an engrossing exploration of the growth of the British Empire.’ Good Book Guide
‘Delectable’ Marina Warner
‘An entertaining account of the appliance of science to the needs of empire’ Financial Times
‘The book’s lively prose combines historical detail with humorous anecdotes.’ Geographical Magazine
‘Patricia Fara gives the 18th century a thorough feminist scolding in this story of one Mr Banks – rich dilettante, explorer, collecter of flowers, father of Australia and head of the Royal Society'
'How botany quivered with sexuality, and that gardening was all about empire building’ Focus
‘Only in England would you find a book arguing about the influence of gardening on the spread of the Empire, but the author might have a point'
'Sex, Botany and Empire is the entertaining biography of Joseph Banks, probably history’s most influential botanist'
'Bank’s rich, fascinating and occasionally influential life'
'A nimble introduction.’ Saturday Telegraph
--------------
Patricia Fara is a Fellow of Clare College at the University of Cambridge where she teaches history of science. She is an expert on magnetism in the eighteenth century, and has also written and lectured widely on scientific portraits, the northern lights and international exploration. Her most recent book, Newton: The Making of Genius, examines how Newton came to be celebrated as a national hero and the world's first scientific genius.
See more books by: Patricia Fara
