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Sex, Botany and Empire: The Story of Carl Linnaeus and Joseph Banks
 
 
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Sex, Botany and Empire: The Story of Carl Linnaeus and Joseph Banks (Hardcover)

by Patricia Fara (Author)
3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 180 pages
  • Publisher: Icon Books Ltd (4 Sep 2003)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1840464887
  • ISBN-13: 978-1840464887
  • Product Dimensions: 17.4 x 11.4 x 2.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 623,497 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #15 in  Books > Science & Nature > Research & Development > Nomenclature & Classification

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Product Description

Observer
"Absorbing"

Good Book Guide
"Enticing.with a sharp eye for 18th-century mores, this is an engrossing exploration of the growth of the British Empire."

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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Sex, Botany and Empire: The Story of Carl Linnaeus and Joseph Banks
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Sex, Botany and Empire: The Story of Carl Linnaeus and Joseph Banks 3.0 out of 5 stars (2)
Joseph Banks
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Joseph Banks 5.0 out of 5 stars (3)
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Customer Reviews

2 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
3.0 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
19 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars a sad blot on the face of science writing, 27 Sep 2004
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.
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6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars History of science that's fun and accurate, 14 Jan 2005
By Gwen Morris (Hathersage, England) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Sex, Botany and Empire: The Story of Carl Linnaeus and Joseph Banks (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.
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