Endersby, Jim (2001) "From having no Herbarium". Local knowledge vs. metropolitan expertise: Joseph Hooker’s Australasian correspondence with William Colenso and Ronald Gunn. Pacific Science, 55 (4). pp. 343-358. ISSN 0030-8870

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Abstract

Between 1844 and 1860, Joseph Dalton Hooker, published a series of major floras of the southern oceans, including the first floras of Tasmania and New Zealand. These books were essential to establishing his scientific reputation. However, despite having visited the countries he described, Hooker relied on a large network of unpaid, colonial collectors to supply him with specimens. A study of his relationship with two of these collectors -- Ronald Campbell Gunn and William Colenso -- reveals warm friendships but also complex negotiations over individual authority, plant naming, and the status of local knowledge. The herbarium played a crucial role in mediating these negotiations. Although Bruno Latour’s theory of cycles of accumulation proved useful for analyzing the herbarium’s role, in this article some ways in which his ideas might be refined and modified are suggested.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	History of science; History of natural history; herbaria; Hooker, Joseph Dalton; Colenso, William; Gunn, Ronald Campbell
Schools and Departments:	School of History, Art History and Philosophy > History
Subjects:	Q Science > QK Botany Q Science > QH Natural history D History General and Old World > DA History of Great Britain C Auxiliary Sciences of History > C Auxiliary sciences of history (General) A General Works > AM Museums (General). Collectors and collecting (General)
Depositing User:	Jim Endersby
Date Deposited:	14 Sep 2007
Last Modified:	10 Mar 2017 18:06
URI:	http://srodev.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/1599
Google Scholar:	13 Citations

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