Science and Empire: Knowledge and Networks of Science across the British Empire, 1800–1970

359 Pages·2011·1.366 MB·English

by  Brett M. Bennett, Joseph M. Hodge (eds.)

Britain and the World
Editors
Bryan Glass,University of Texas at Austin
James Onley,University of Exeter, UK
Gregory Barton,The Australian National University
Wm. Roger Louis,University of Texas at Austin
Science and Empire: Knowledge and Networks of Science Across the British Empire, 1800–1970is
the second book in the Britain and the Worldseries, edited by The British Scholar Society
and published by Palgrave Macmillan. From the sixteenth century onward, Britain’s
influence on the world became more progressively profound and far-reaching, in time
touching every continent and subject, from Africa to South America and archaeology to
zoology. Although the histories of Britain and the world became increasingly intertwined,
mainstream British history still neglects the world’s influence upon domestic
developments and British overseas history remains largely confined to the study of
the British Empire. This series takes a broader approach to British history, seeking to
investigate the full extent of the world’s influenceon Britain and Britain’s influence
on the world.
Joseph Hodge and Brett Bennett’s book is the most wide-ranging survey of scientific
endeavour within the British Empire yet published. It examines the interconnections
between science, the British Empire, and the emergence of a globalized world. It identifies
and analyzes the web of scientific networks crisscrossing the British Empire through which
scientific knowledge and authority were produced, circulated and legitimated. It engages
critically with new ways of thinking about networked connections across space, and about
the relationality of multiple colonial, metropolitan, and even extra-imperial sites. Finally,
it offers a comparative perspective that surveys a variety of scientific initiatives and
circuits, and that charts the movement of various agendas, ideas, people, and practices
across Africa, Australia, Britain, India and elsewhere. Each chapter combines rigorous
research with theoretical reflection based on the latest literature, as well as serving as a
useful introduction to that literature. We believe Science and Empirewill become a standard
reference for years to come.
Forthcoming titles in the Britain and the Worldseries include:
IMPERIAL ENDGAME: Britain’s Dirty Wars and the End of Empire
Benjamin Grob-Fitzgibbon
SCIENCE AND EMPIRE: Knowledge and Networks of Science Across the British Empire,
1800–1970
Edited by Brett M. Bennett and Joseph M. Hodge
MUSE OF EMPIRE: The Classics, British Imperialism and the Indian Empire, 1784–1914
Christopher Hagerman
THE PAPER WAR: Anglo-American Debates About the American Republic, 1800–1830
Joe Eaton
BRITISH IMAGES OF GERMANY: Admiration, Antagonism and Ambivalence, 1860–1914
Richard Scully

Science and Empire
Knowledge and Networks of Science
across the British Empire, 1800–1970
Edited By
Brett M. Bennett
Lecturer in Modern History, University of Western Sydney
Joseph M. Hodge
Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, Department of History,
West Virginia University, USA
Palgrave
macmillan
Editorial matter, selection and introduction © Brett M. Bennett and
Joseph M. Hodge 2011
All remaining chapters © their respective authors 2011
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2011 978-0-230-25228-8
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this
publication may be made without written permission.
No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted
save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence
permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency,
Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS.
Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication
may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The authors have asserted their rights to be identified as the authors of this
work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published 2011 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN
Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited,
registered in England, company number785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke,
HampshireRG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin’s Press LLC,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
and has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States,
the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries
ISBN 978-1-349-32190-2 ISBN 978-0-230-32082-6 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780230320826
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully
managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing
processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the
country of origin.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Science and empire : knowledge and networks of science across the British
Empire, 1800–1970 / edited by Brett M. Bennett [and] Joseph M. Hodge.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Science–Great Britain–History. 2. Science–Great Britain– Historiography.
3. Learning and scholarship–Great Britain–History. 4. Science–Great Britain–
Societies, etc.–History. 5. Imperialism–Social aspects–Great Britain–History.
6. Scientists–Great Britain–Colonies–History. 7. Great Britain–Colonies–
History. 8. Decolonization–Great Britain–History. 9. Great Britain–
Intellectual life–19th century. 10. Great Britain–Intellectual life–20th century.
I. Bennett, Brett M., 1983– II. Hodge, Joseph Morgan, 1965–
Q127.G4S4183 2011
509.171′241–dc23 2011016883
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11
To Wm. Roger Louis

Contents
List of Abbreviations ix
List of Tables and Figures x
Preface xi
Notes on Contributors xiv
Part I Historiography and Overview 1
1 Science and Empire: An Overview of the Historical 3
Scholarship
Joseph M. Hodge
2 The Consolidation and Reconfiguration of ‘British’ 30
Networks of Science, 1800–1970
Brett M. Bennett
Part II Knowledge and Networks in the Nineteenth 45
and Early Twentieth Centuries
3 Science and the British Empire from its Beginnings to 1850 47
John Gascoigne
4 A Network Approach to the Origins of Forestry 68
Education in India, 1855–1885
Brett M. Bennett
5 Anatomy of Reception: Science, Nation and Religion in 89
Hindi-Language Print Media of Colonial South Asia
Rajive Tiwari
6 ‘A Science of Our Own’: Nineteenth Century Exhibitions, 110
Australians and the History of Science
Peter H. Hoffenberg
7 Between the Nation and the World: J.T. Wilson and 140
Scientific Networks in the Early Twentieth Century
Tamson Pietsch
vii
viii Contents
Part III Knowledge and Networks at the End of 161
Empire
8 Albert Howard and the Decolonization of Science: 163
From the Raj to Organic Farming
Gregory A. Barton
9 ‘The Chance to Send Their First Class Men Out to the 187
Colonies’: The Making of the Colonial Research Service
Sabine Clarke
10 The Hybridity of Colonial Knowledge: British Tropical 209
Agricultural Science and African Farming Practices at
the End of Empire
Joseph M. Hodge
11 The Science of Decolonization: The Retention of 232
‘Environmental Authority’ in the Contest for Antarctic
Sovereignty between Britain, Argentina, and Chile,
1939–59
Adrian Howkins
12 Unexploited Assets: Imperial Imagination, Practical 253
Limitations, and Marine Fisheries Research in
East Africa, 1917–53
Christian Jennings
13 Thomas Adeoye Lambo and the Decolonization of 275
Psychiatry in Nigeria
Matthew M. Heaton
14 The Reconfiguration of Scientific Career Networks in 297
the Late Colonial Period: The Case of the Food and
Agriculture Organization and the British Colonial
Forestry Service
Jennifer Gold
Epilogue 321
Michael Worboys
Bibliography 327
Index 342
List of Abbreviations
AAS Australian Academy of Science
ARC Agricultural Research Council
CAC Colonial Advisory Council on Agricultural & Animal
Health
CDC Colonial Development Corporation
CD&W Colonial Development and Welfare
CFAC Colonial Fisheries Advisory Committee
CFS Colonial Forestry Service
CGIAR Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research
CO Colonial Office
CRC Colonial Research Committee
CMRC Colonial Medical Research Council
CRC Colonial Research Council
CRS Colonial Research Service
DSIR Department of Scientific and Industrial Research
EAHC East Africa High Commission
EAMFRO East African Marine Fisheries Research Organization
EIC East India Company
FAO UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization
FSSU Federated Superannuation Scheme for Universities
GTS Great Trigonometric Survey of India
HMOCS Her Majesty’s Overseas Civil Service
IARS Imperial Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa
ICTA Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture, Trinidad
IFS Indian Forest Service
INC Indian National Congress
IPSS International Pilot Study of Schizophrenia
IRRI International Rice Research Institute, Philippines
IGY International Geophysical Year
IWC International Whaling Commission
MRC Medical Research Council
OFC Overseas Food Corporation
RGS Royal Geographic Society
SPRI Scott Polar Research Institute
WHO World Health Organization
ix