Nature's Colony

Author: Timothy P. Barnard
Publisher: NUS Press
ISBN: 9814722227
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 28

Book Description
Established in 1859, Singapore’s Botanic Gardens has served as a park for Singaporeans and visitors, a scientific institution, and a testing ground for tropical plantation crops. Each function has its own story, while the Gardens also fuel an underlying narrative of the juncture of administrative authority and the natural world. Created to help exploit natural resources for the British Empire, the Gardens became contested ground in conflicts involving administrators and scientists that reveal shifting understandings of power, science and nature in Singapore and in Britain. This continued after independence, when the Gardens featured in the “greening” of the nation-state, and became Singapore’s first World Heritage Site. Positioning the Singapore Botanic Gardens alongside the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew and gardens in India, Ceylon, Mauritius and the West Indies, this book tells the story of nature’s colony—a place where plants were collected, classified and cultivated to change our understanding of the region and world.

Nature's Colony

Author: Timothy P Barnard
Publisher: Flipside Digital Content Company Inc.
ISBN: 9814722456
Category : Gardening
Languages : en
Pages : 410

Book Description
Established in 1859, Singapore's Botanic Gardens has served as a park for Singaporeans and visitors, a scientific institution, and a testing ground for tropical plantation crops. Each function has its own story, while the Gardens also fuel an underlying narrative of the juncture of administrative authority and the natural world. Created to help exploit natural resources for the British Empire, the Gardens became contested ground in conflicts involving administrators and scientists that reveal shifting understandings of power, science and nature in Singapore and in Britain. This continued after independence, when the Gardens featured in the "e;greening"e; of the nation-state, and became Singapore's first World Heritage Site. Positioning the Singapore Botanic Gardens alongside the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew and gardens in India, Ceylon, Mauritius and the West Indies, this book tells the story of nature's colony-a place where plants were collected, classified and cultivated to change our understanding of the region and world.

Natures in Translation

Author: Alan Bewell
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 142142097X
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 415

Book Description
Understanding the dynamics of British colonialism and the enormous ecological transformations that took place through the mobilization and globalized management of natures. For many critics, Romanticism is synonymous with nature writing, for representations of the natural world appear during this period with a freshness, concreteness, depth, and intensity that have rarely been equaled. Why did nature matter so much to writers of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries? And how did it play such an important role in their understanding of themselves and the world? In Natures in Translation, Alan Bewell argues that there is no Nature in the singular, only natures that have undergone transformation through time and across space. He examines how writers—as disparate as Erasmus and Charles Darwin, Joseph Banks, Gilbert White, William Bartram, William Wordsworth, John Clare, and Mary Shelley—understood a world in which natures were traveling and resettling the globe like never before. Bewell presents British natural history as a translational activity aimed at globalizing local natures by making them mobile, exchangeable, comparable, and representable. Bewell explores how colonial writers, in the period leading up to the formulation of evolutionary theory, responded to a world in which new natures were coming into being while others disappeared. For some of these writers, colonial natural history held the promise of ushering in a “cosmopolitan” nature in which every species, through trade and exchange, might become a true “citizen of the world.” Others struggled with the question of how to live after the natures they depended upon were gone. Ultimately, Natures in Translation demonstrates that—far from being separate from the dominant concerns of British imperial culture—nature was integrally bound up with the business of empire.

Everyday Nature: Knowledge of the Natural World in Colonial New York

Author:
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
ISBN: 9780813543796
Category : Great Britain
Languages : en
Pages : 288

Book Description
In Everyday Nature, Sara Gronim shows how scientific advances were received in the early modern world, from the time Europeans settled in America until just before the American Revolution. Settlers approached a wide range of innovations, such as smallpox inoculation, maps and surveys, Copernican cosmology, and Ben Franklin's experiments with electricity, with great skepticism. New Yorkers in particular were distrustful because of the chronic political and religious factionalism in the colony. Those discoveries that could be easily reconciled with existing beliefs about healing the sick, agricultural practices, and the revolution of the planets were more readily embraced.

Nature's Messenger

Author: Patrick Dean
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1639364145
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 201

Book Description
A dynamic and fresh exploration of the naturalist Mark Catesby—who predated John James Audubon by nearly a century— and his influence on how we understand American wildlife. In 1722, Mark Catesby stepped ashore in Charles Town in the Carolina colony. Over the next four years, this young naturalist made history as he explored deep into America’s natural wonders, collecting and drawing plants and animals which had never been seen back in the Old World. Nine years later Catesby produced his magnificent and groundbreaking book, The Natural History of Carolina, the first-ever illustrated account of American flora and fauna. In Nature’s Messenger, acclaimed writer Patrick Dean follows Catesby from his youth as a landed gentleman in rural England to his early work as a naturalist and his adventurous travels. A pioneer in many ways, Catesby’s careful attention to the knowledge of non-Europeans in America—the enslaved Africans and Native Americans who had their own sources of food and medicine from nature—set him apart from others of his time. Nature’s Messenger takes us from the rice plantations of the Carolina Lowcountry to the bustling coffeehouses of 18th-century England, from the sun-drenched islands of the Bahamas to the austere meeting-rooms of London’s Royal Society, then presided over by Isaac Newton. It was a time of discovery, of intellectual ferment, and of the rise of the British Empire. And there on history’s leading edge, recording the extraordinary and often violent mingling of cultures as well as of nature, was Mark Catesby. Intensively researched and thrillingly told, Nature’s Messenger will thrill fans of exploration and early American history as well as appeal to birdwatchers, botanists, and anyone fascinated by the natural world.

Buzzing Nature's Wonders

Author: Barrett Williams
Publisher: Barrett Williams
ISBN:
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 108

Book Description
**Buzzing Nature's Wonders The Untold Story of Bees** Welcome to the captivating world of bees, where every buzz tells a fascinating story. "Buzzing Nature's Wonders" is your ultimate guide to unraveling the mysteries of one of the most essential creatures in our ecosystem. This eBook takes you on an enlightening journey from the mesmerizing diversity of bees to their pivotal role in human survival. Discover bees like never before in **Chapter 1 Introduction to Bees**, where intriguing myths are debunked, and you'll gain insight into the rich history of these small yet mighty insects. Delve deeper into **Chapter 2 Bee Anatomy and Physiology**, exploring their intricate structures and remarkable survival adaptations. Explore the hive's complex social structure in **Chapter 3**, understanding the vital roles and communication methods that keep the colony thriving, while **Chapter 4** unveils the fascinating lifecycle and seasonal behaviors of bees. In **Chapter 5**, the foraging behavior of bees is laid bare, highlighting their incredible ability to locate flowers and execute the mechanics of pollination. This leads seamlessly into **Chapter 6 The Importance of Pollination**, emphasizing the critical contributions of bees to agriculture and the overall economy. Unfortunately, bees face numerous threats. **Chapter 7** addresses the various challenges to bee populations, from pesticides and habitat loss to climate change and diseases. These threats have far-reaching consequences outlined in **Chapter 8**, impacting plants, crops, and other wildlife. But there's hope. **Chapter 9** explores modern beekeeping practices and conservation efforts, from urban beekeeping to large-scale programs. Learn how to make your environment bee-friendly in **Chapter 10**, with practical tips for planting pollinator gardens and providing safe habitats. Become an advocate for bees with insights from **Chapter 11**, teaching and engaging communities, and dive into the technological innovations in bee conservation presented in **Chapter 12**. Gain a global perspective with **Chapter 13**, showcasing international efforts and cultural significances. Be inspired by **Chapter 14’s** success stories and find personal ways to contribute in **Chapter 15**. Finally, look towards the future in **Chapter 16**, projecting hopeful trends and solutions for sustainable bee populations. Reflect on these revelations and be motivated to provoke change in **Chapter 17**, with a plethora of additional resources in **Chapter 18** for further learning. Embrace the buzz and contribute to a brighter future for our pollinating partners. **"Buzzing Nature's Wonders"** is more than a book; it’s a call to action.

Moses, Muhammad and Nature's God in Early American Religious-Legal History, 1640-1830

Author: R. Charles Weller
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3031601882
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 415

Book Description

Nature's Magic

Author: Peter Corning
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9781139442183
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 476

Book Description
Nature's Magic presents a bold vision of the evolutionary process from the Big Bang to the 21st century. Synergy of various kinds is not only a ubiquitous aspect of the natural world but it has also been a wellspring of creativity and the 'driver' of the broad evolutionary trend toward increased complexity, in nature and human societies alike. But in contrast with the many theories of emergence or complexity that rely on some underlying force or 'law', the 'Synergism Hypothesis', as Peter Corning calls it, is in essence an economic theory of biological complexity; it is fully consistent with mainstream evolutionary biology. Corning refers to it as Holistic Darwinism. Among the many important insights that are provided by this new paradigm, Corning presents a scenario in which the human species invented itself; synergistic, behavioral and technological innovations were the 'pacemakers' of our biological evolution. Synergy has also been the key to the evolution of complex modern societies, he concludes.

Nature's Music

Author: Peter R. Marler
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 0080473555
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 556

Book Description
The voices of birds have always been a source of fascination. Nature's Music brings together some of the world's experts on birdsong, to review the advances that have taken place in our understanding of how and why birds sing, what their songs and calls mean, and how they have evolved. All contributors have strived to speak, not only to fellow experts, but also to the general reader. The result is a book of readable science, richly illustrated with recordings and pictures of the sounds of birds. Bird song is much more than just one behaviour of a single, particular group of organisms. It is a model for the study of a wide variety of animal behaviour systems, ecological, evolutionary and neurobiological. Bird song sits at the intersection of breeding, social and cognitive behaviour and ecology. As such interest in this book will extend far beyond the purely ornithological - to behavioural ecologists psychologists and neurobiologists of all kinds.* The scoop on local dialects in birdsong* How birdsongs are used for fighting and flirting* The writers are all international authorities on their subject

Brethren by Nature

Author: Margaret Ellen Newell
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 0801456479
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 432

Book Description
In Brethren by Nature, Margaret Ellen Newell reveals a little-known aspect of American history: English colonists in New England enslaved thousands of Indians. Massachusetts became the first English colony to legalize slavery in 1641, and the colonists' desire for slaves shaped the major New England Indian wars, including the Pequot War of 1637, King Philip's War of 1675–76, and the northeastern Wabanaki conflicts of 1676–1749. When the wartime conquest of Indians ceased, New Englanders turned to the courts to get control of their labor, or imported Indians from Florida and the Carolinas, or simply claimed free Indians as slaves.Drawing on letters, diaries, newspapers, and court records, Newell recovers the slaves' own stories and shows how they influenced New England society in crucial ways. Indians lived in English homes, raised English children, and manned colonial armies, farms, and fleets, exposing their captors to Native religion, foods, and technology. Some achieved freedom and power in this new colonial culture, but others experienced violence, surveillance, and family separations. Newell also explains how slavery linked the fate of Africans and Indians. The trade in Indian captives connected New England to Caribbean and Atlantic slave economies. Indians labored on sugar plantations in Jamaica, tended fields in the Azores, and rowed English naval galleys in Tangier. Indian slaves outnumbered Africans within New England before 1700, but the balance soon shifted. Fearful of the growing African population, local governments stripped Indian and African servants and slaves of legal rights and personal freedoms. Nevertheless, because Indians remained a significant part of the slave population, the New England colonies did not adopt all of the rigid racial laws typical of slave societies in Virginia and Barbados. Newell finds that second- and third-generation Indian slaves fought their enslavement and claimed citizenship in cases that had implications for all enslaved peoples in eighteenth-century America.