Natural Science and the Origins of the British Empire

Description

Represents a history of the British Empire that takes account of the sense of empire as intellectual as well as geographic dominion: the historiography of the British Empire, with its preoccupation of empire as geographically unchallenged sovereignty, overlooks the idea of empire as intellectual dominion.

'draws in a number of intriguing and traditionally overlooked colonial aspects of the careers of eminent philosophers' British Journal for the History of Science 'provides an excellent foundation for identifying the ways in which the English virtuosi linked the North American ventures to ideas about the understanding and improvement of nature.' Church History 'The value of this book lies in its close, sophisticated reading and analysis of primary sources.' Itinerario