Under The Microscope

CULTURES OF NATURAL HISTORY Edited by N. Jardine, J.A. Secord and E.C. Spary; Cambridge University Press, 1996; 501 pp; $115.00

Reviewed by Dr Barbara Nicholas

Advances in biology appear in our papers on an almost daily basis. Frequently there are reports of advances in genetics and molecular biotechnologies, or environmental concerns gain attention, be it global warming or toxic spills. We are becoming more aware of the importance to our lives of biological sciences, and that the directions in which science develops is influenced by social and political forces. We are also recognising that our new knowledge presents us which choices about how we will respond.

Cultures of Natural History provides a fascinating background to the issues that biological sciences deal with today. This collection of 24 essays looks at various aspects of natural history from the 16th to the late 19th century, ranging from the importance of gardens as political statements and sites of medical education, through to artisan botanists meeting in British pubs in the first half of last century, and the relationship between natural history at the end of the 19th century and the emergence of new forms of biology at the turn of this century. In between there is an exploration of the interactions between social institutions, political movements and the pursuit of scientific knowledge.

I was intrigued by the social role that natural historians have filled at various times and the cultural impact of their work. There are extensive illustrations of the interactions between the practitioners of natural history and the institutions of states, universities, museums, zoological gardens and colonial forces. Those who collected and classified and theorised about how the world is were also clear that there were moral and political implications associated with their world view.

The views of nature that these early practitioners helped to create both reinforced the world view of dominant cultures, and extended and challenged it. The editors intend this to be a volume suitable for the reader who is new to this history. I fear they are a little ambitious. There is a wealth of information and analysis, but particularly if one has little knowledge of European history in this period, there is too much to take in.

Some writers were able to present their material in an accessible form, but in some chapters I was overwhelmed by the amount of detail and struggled to assimilate the points that were being made. That said, this is a book to which I will return. There are wonderful plates reproducing illustrations from historical publications. And there is the delight in all that detail, rather like the curiosity evoked by looking at a display cabinet full of interesting specimens. I am intrigued by the interactions the various authors explore -- and left wondering what future historians of natural history will have to say about our period and the interactions between biological sciences and cultures in our time.

Dr Barbara Nicholas teaches bioethics at Otago Medical School