Utopia's garden [[electronic resource] ] : French natural history from Old Regime to Revolution / / E.C. Spary

• Autore: Spary E. C (Emma C.)
• Pubblicazione: Chicago, : University of Chicago Press, c2000
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (339 p.)
• Disciplina: 508.44/09/033
• Soggetto topico: Natural history - France - History - 18th century
• Soggetto genere / forma: Electronic books.
• Classificazione: NU 2000
• Note generali: Description based upon print version of record.
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references (p. [263]-310).
• Nota di contenuto: Frontmatter -- Contents -- Illustrations -- Acknowledgments -- Abbreviations -- Introduction -- Chapter One. The Place of Histoire naturelle at the Jardin du Roi -- Chapter Two. Acting at a Distance: André Thouin and the Function of Botanical Networks -- Chapter Three. Naturalizing the Tree of Liberty: Generation, Degeneration, and Regeneration in the Jardin du Roi -- Chapter Four. Patronage, Community, and Power: Strategies of Self-Presentation in New Regimes -- Chapter Five. The Spectacle of Nature: The Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle and the Jacobins -- Conclusion: Possible Futures -- Appendix. Holders of Scientific Posts at the Jardin du Roi/Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle, 1750-1793 -- Bibliography -- Index
• Sommario/riassunto: The royal Parisian botanical garden, the Jardin du Roi, was a jewel in the crown of the French Old Regime, praised by both rulers and scientific practitioners. Yet unlike many such institutions, the Jardin not only survived the French Revolution but by 1800 had become the world's leading public establishment of natural history: the Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle. E. C. Spary traces the scientific, administrative, and political strategies that enabled the foundation of the Muséum, arguing that agriculture and animal breeding rank alongside classification and collections in explaining why natural history was important for French rulers. But the Muséum's success was also a consequence of its employees' Revolutionary rhetoric: by displaying the natural order, they suggested, the institution could assist in fashioning a self-educating, self-policing Republican people. Natural history was presented as an indispensable source of national prosperity and individual virtue. Spary's fascinating account opens a new chapter in the history of France, science, and the Enlightenment.
• Titolo autorizzato: Utopia's garden
• ISBN: 1-283-05859-6; 9786613058591; 0-226-76870-8
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Record Nr.: 9910459753003321
• Lo trovi qui: Univ. Federico II