Natural History in the Age of Revolutions, 1776-1848

历史学家将18世纪中期到19世纪中期这段时期称为“革命时代”，并且越来越多地认识到世界各地的人们都陷入了动荡的发展之中。该项目以剑桥大学历史与科学哲学系为基础，与博物馆部门的项目合作伙伴合作，研究博物学家的工作实践如何适应这一时期帝国扩张、民族国家形成和革命运动的政治议程，以及他们对自然和人类多样性的看法如何反过来支持或抵制这些议程。具体来说，我们将研究博物学家是如何使用印刷书籍、手稿、插图和标本来管理信息流动的，在一个帝国扩张和革命野心之间撕裂的世界，涉及大英帝国的不同群体，从传教士、军事外科医生到企业家和波利尼西亚长老。因此，该项目也通过探索帝国遗产的隐藏历史，以及通过释放所谓的次等人对通常被认为是独特的西方遗产的贡献，来回应当前解决殖民历史的需求。该项目鼓励学者、学生、政策制定者、机构和公众跳出西方科学在全球传播的叙述，重新构建关于1800年左右自然史信息经济的观念，以及它是如何塑造现代自然观的。远古时代的观念，将所有生命形式联系在一起的“自然”亲缘关系，以及以“为生命而斗争”为特征的自然经济，都在革命时代扎根。通过与我们的项目合作伙伴——伦敦自然历史博物馆、伦敦林奈学会、皇家植物园、邱园、新南威尔士州立图书馆、奥塔哥大学和剑桥大学的博物馆和藏品——合作，开始对藏品进行检查和重新解释，我们将专注于那些在策展职位上不太知名的博物学家的遗产，以形成这些想法。最近的研究表明，全球网络为新的帝国主义倡议提供了框架，但也提供了协调抵抗这些倡议的手段。我们的研究将通过展示新一代自然主义者如何管理本地知识来源和各种“知识经纪人”和“中间人”之间的全球信息流，以及富有的赞助人、国家官僚机构和读者之间的信息流来补充这些见解。我们的指导假设是，这种促进全球交流的新角色定义了一种公共服务精神，以及延续至今的独特的专业知识形式。通过集中研究与特定博物学家有关的藏品，将促进研究和参与。例子包括亚历山大·安德森（Alexander Anderson）编辑的手稿、插图和标本，他的收藏包括由土著和被奴役的西印度艺术家创作的植物艺术品。同样，罗伯特·布朗在环游澳大利亚时也依赖于当地的线人，他在大英博物馆收集了大量的自然历史资料，并利用这些资料开发了生物地理学和系统学的新方法。该项目将通过将有关来源的资料纳入机构目录和数据库，促进今后的研究和展览。将自然历史收藏与殖民历史联系起来，我们将通过公开展览和一系列公开讲座，一个可访问的插图编辑书籍和文章，一个项目网站和社交媒体来传播对这一时期的新理解。我们还将为项目合作伙伴的外联活动提供建议和参与，让不同的受众对自然历史如何促进现代世界的崛起有新的认识。

Historians describe the period from the mid-eighteenth to the mid-nineteenth century as 'the age of revolutions' and are increasingly realizing that people around the world were caught up in its tumultuous developments. Based in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge, and working with project partners from the museum sector, this project will investigate how the working practices of naturalists adapted to political agendas of imperial expansion, nation state formation, and revolutionary movements during this period, and how their visions of natural and human diversity supported or resisted these agendas in turn.Specifically, we will examine how naturalists used printed books, manuscripts, illustrations and specimens to manage information flows in a world torn between imperial expansion and revolutionary ambitions and involving diverse groups across the British Empire ranging from missionaries and military surgeons to entrepreneurs and Polynesian elders. The project thus also responds to the current need to address the colonial past by exploring hidden histories of the legacies of empire and by unlocking contributions of so-called subalterns to what too often is considered a uniquely Western heritage.Encouraging scholars, students, policy makers, institutions and the public to think beyond narratives of the global spread of Western science, the project will reframe ideas about the information economy of natural history around 1800 and how it shaped modern perspectives of nature. Ideas of deep time, 'natural' affinities connecting all forms of life, and an economy of nature characterised by a 'struggle for life,' all took root during the age of revolutions. Initiating the examination and reinterpretation of collections through working with our project partners- the Natural History Museum, London, the Linnaean Society of London, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, State Library of New South Wales, the University of Otago, and the University of Cambridge Museums and collections- we will concentrate on the legacy of lesser-known naturalists in curatorial positions in formulating these ideas.Recent research has established that global networks provided frameworks for new imperial initiatives but also means to coordinate resistance against these. Our research will complement these insights by showing how a new class of naturalists managed global information flows between indigenous knowledge sources and a variety of 'knowledge brokers' and 'go-betweens' on the one hand, and wealthy patrons, state bureaucracies and reading publics on the other. Our guiding hypothesis is that this new-found role of facilitating global communication defined an ethos of public service as well as distinct forms of expertise that survive to this day.Research and engagement will be facilitated by concentrating on collections related to specific naturalists. Examples include the manuscripts, illustrations and specimens compiled by Alexander Anderson, whose collection includes botanical artworks produced by indigenous and enslaved West Indian artists. Similarly, Robert Brown relied on indigenous informants when circumnavigating Australia, compiling a vast natural history collection at the British Museum that he used to develop new approaches in biogeography and systematics. The project will facilitate future research and exhibitions by integrating information on provenance into institutional catalogues and databases. Connecting natural history collections to the colonial past, we will disseminate a new understanding of this period through public exhibitions and a series of public talks, an accessible illustrated edited book and article, a project website and social media. We will also advise on and participate in project partners' outreach events to engage different audiences with new visions of how natural history contributed to the rise of the modern world.