- Hardcover: 176 pages
- Publisher: Columbia University Press; New Ed edition (14 Jun 2012)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0231134266
- ISBN-13: 978-0231134262
- Product Dimensions: 18.4 x 11.8 x 1.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,696,237 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Review
"'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"
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Review
A rollicking read. New Scientist Absorbing... Fara makes a convincing case for Banks'historical impact. Observer An entertaining account of the appliance of science to the needs of empire. Financial Times A series of captivating forays into his [Banks'] life and times. -- Amanda Schaffer Bookforum This is one of the most amazing books that I have read recently. -- Asad R. Rahmani Hornbill 4/1/05 An entertaining book... readable and amusing. -- Sarah O'Malley Northeastern Naturalist 14(3)
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First Sentence
Harriet Blosset was rich, beautiful, and delighted to be watching an opera with her fiance, a wealthy young Lincolnshire landowner called Joseph Banks. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Harriet Blosset was rich, beautiful, and delighted to be watching an opera with her fiance, a wealthy young Lincolnshire landowner called Joseph Banks. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book allowed me to look through Enlightenment eyes and see my two heroes as real people. It wasn't Linnaeus or Banks who eroticised botany as much as a prurient public and media who couldn't receive this system of classification (based on the sexual parts of plants) without endless tittering. If you seek a broader understanding of the period during which these men lived and worked, this short and easy to read book gives a surprisingly detailed account of what motivated Banks (far more than Linneaus who receives short shift) and his place in the Enlightenment and Empire as well as his posthumous status. Fara dissects the book's 14 plates to reveal much about the times, the artists and the sitters. My only complaints are that the book is very short on botany and Linnaeus wasn't given enough space. It's a fun and fascinating read and compliments the more
standard works on the same subject.
standard works on the same subject.
26 of 36 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I was extremelly dissapointed from the moment I started this book to the moment I finished. Dissapointed that I spent so much money on a book that I took to be informative and interesting, but turned out to be anything but. Dissapointed that it paid such little respect for the lives and work of such great scientists Banks and Linnaeus. And most of all dissapointed for other people reading the book and receiving such a biased and false impression of the history and quality of the study of biology. The subject of sex was pounced upon and sensationalised in a way which indicated the authors own obsession with the subject. It was implied that the basis of taxonomy is flawed and 'dirty' as it relies on the anatomy of plant sexual structures, illuminating the vaste ignorance of the author towards the fundamental fields of biology and taxonomy. This book left me feeling sad at the evident desperation in resorting to sensational 'tabloidism' when trying to sell a book that could never be sold on its historical, scientific or informative value.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
2 reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Linnaeus' tercentenary
27 Mar 2007
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
May 23rd will be the 300th anniversary of Carl Linnaeus' birth so I purchased this little book to become familiar with him and to honor his memory. However this book is more about Banks than Linnaeus, altho' Banks did much to promote Linnaeus' system of classification not only in England but thru-out the world. In some ways, Banks was to Linnaeus what Huxley was to Darwin and Bateson was to Mendel. Not only did Linnaeus and Banks promote science (and themselves), but they promoted their respective country's agricultural economy before the Industrial Revolution. Yet both men were largely forgotten soon after their deaths.
In large part the successful promotion of Linnaeus' system was due to his use of animal genitalia (in an uptight society) as an analogy to describe the reproductive organs of plants and as the basis for naming and classifying them. Add to that, Banks' well-known promiscuity while in Tahiti on Captain Cook's first voyage there (to record the Transit of Venus) and you have a sure-fire salacious combination (sex sells!).
Fara also describes how the English used scientific exploration as a cover for colonization which they justified in the belief that Europeans were a superior race and must help the other races. Both Linnaeus and Banks brought in non-native plants and tried to adapt them to their countries but Banks was far more successful. Indeed Banks had plants and animals transplanted from one colony to another fairly successfully.
So eventho' I bought the book for Linnaeus, the inclusion of Banks rounds out the story. While Wikipedia has more facts on Linnaeus it has less of the personal. I gave the book only four stars because Fara doesn't include an index, tho' Amazon's `Search Inside' feature provided an alternative.
In large part the successful promotion of Linnaeus' system was due to his use of animal genitalia (in an uptight society) as an analogy to describe the reproductive organs of plants and as the basis for naming and classifying them. Add to that, Banks' well-known promiscuity while in Tahiti on Captain Cook's first voyage there (to record the Transit of Venus) and you have a sure-fire salacious combination (sex sells!).
Fara also describes how the English used scientific exploration as a cover for colonization which they justified in the belief that Europeans were a superior race and must help the other races. Both Linnaeus and Banks brought in non-native plants and tried to adapt them to their countries but Banks was far more successful. Indeed Banks had plants and animals transplanted from one colony to another fairly successfully.
So eventho' I bought the book for Linnaeus, the inclusion of Banks rounds out the story. While Wikipedia has more facts on Linnaeus it has less of the personal. I gave the book only four stars because Fara doesn't include an index, tho' Amazon's `Search Inside' feature provided an alternative.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Read this for a science project
17 April 2006
Format:Hardcover
Carl Linnaeus was responsible for revolutionizing the way modern science classifies and organizes all living organisms. His simple system based on the sexual characteristics of plants shocked society and inspired other scientists including Joseph Banks, whose voyages around the world to find and classify new organisms included an interesting array of sexual exploits with the natives he came across. In her novel, Patricia Fara presents a solid and well supported thesis on how botany contributed and was inexplicably tied into the imperialism of European society, most especially the British Empire.
This book is a quick read and not overly bogged down with the intricacies of scientific classification. It presents the story of Carl Linnaeus and Joseph Banks's enormous contributions to the beginnings of modern classification while discussing the political, social, and economic incentives behind their science. Patricia Fara has written several other books concerning Enlightenment era science and this book is a prime example of her ability and specialty in tying in the role of science as a part of society and government in the 18th and 19th centuries. I recommend this book for anyone who is interested in biology or botany as well as anyone interested in the workings of early modern science and their place in the development of modern English society.
This book is a quick read and not overly bogged down with the intricacies of scientific classification. It presents the story of Carl Linnaeus and Joseph Banks's enormous contributions to the beginnings of modern classification while discussing the political, social, and economic incentives behind their science. Patricia Fara has written several other books concerning Enlightenment era science and this book is a prime example of her ability and specialty in tying in the role of science as a part of society and government in the 18th and 19th centuries. I recommend this book for anyone who is interested in biology or botany as well as anyone interested in the workings of early modern science and their place in the development of modern English society.
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