About the Project

A watercolour image of an echidna, c. 1800. This early image of a monotreme mammal is now held by the State Library of New South Wales, 'The Lambert Drawings', folio 10.

'Natural History in the Age of Revolutions' is an interdisciplinary collaborative research project based in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge. We draw expertise from across the arts and sciences, working with historians of science, historians, scientists and curators to explore the crucial juncture in the practices of natural history around 1800. The analysis explores how visions of plant, animal and human diversity supported or resisted these agendas in turn.

Specifically, this project examines how travelling naturalists and naturalists in curatorial positions 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 by unlocking diverse contributions in what is too often considered a uniquely 'Western' heritage.

This project is designed to reframe ideas about the information economy of natural history through thinking beyond narratives on the global spread of 'western' science. Ideas of deep time, 'natural' affinities connecting all forms of life on earth, and an economy of natural history around 1800 characterised by a 'struggle for life' all took root during the age of revolutions. We will initiate the examination and reinterpretation of collections through working with project partners to concentrate on the legacy of little-known curatorial naturalists in forming these ideas.

To facilitate this research we have built several partnerships in the UK and South Pacific. Our project partners include:

The main research directions of the project are explained under the 'research' tab in the main menu.