Historians have investigated for some time the nature and practice of colonial science. Some have seen it in terms of the spread of European influence and knowledge in an age of imperialism, others have studied it in particular local contexts. These studies identi& an emphasis on practical science and natural history, and a degree of dependence on experts resident at the European centre. More recent work thaws attention to the exchange of information that occurred between various sites on the periphery. In this thesis I investigate the nature and practice of science in Brisbane in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Brisbane was a small, isolated town, an administrative centre in a colony dominated by its pastoral industry. The govermnent, partly because of regular budgetary crises and partly because it could not perceive any public benefit, was not interested in funding science. The two scientific institutions - the Philosophical Society, which became the Royal Society in 1883, and the Acclimatisation Society - are studied in order to demonstrate the ways in which men with scientific interests organised themselves and attempted to influence the scientific agenda. I go on to trace the relationships and communication networks of the two men who are arguably the pre-eminent figures in nineteenth-century Queensland science, F. M. Bailey and Joseph Bancroft, in an attempt to determine what effect geographic and intellectual isolation, and lack of funding, had on their activities. Several themes emerge. First, although there was an emphasis as elsewhere on practical science and natural history, for some middle class men science was a social and cultural pursuit. These men, in seeking to re-create the institutions that they had left behind them in Britain, established social and political networks that helped to establish them in a new society. The continual inflow of new immigrants guaranteed an inflow of scientific culture and new technology. Second, acclimatisation and economic botany provided a focus for practical scientific activities. Through the leadership of Lewis Bernays, a public servant with no scientific background or training, acclimatisation became a respectable activity in which people from all over the colony participated. Acclimatisation represented the interface between science, technology and economic progress. Third, other men such as F. M. Bailey, the colonial botanist, and Dr Joseph Bancroft, who had many scientific interests, were intent on both expanding the body of knowledge and making use of what they considered useful knowledge for the benefit of the colony. A simple diffusion model does not explain adequately the complex conditions under which western science was pursued and established in a remote settler society such as Queensland.

The focus of this thesis is on the social history of public health and medicine in British Malaya during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. I argue that the introduction of modern medicine, medical services, and medical knowledge to Malaya, while serving the immediate needs of colonial economic extraction, and providing legitimacy to colonial rule, also functioned as a cultural agent of colonization, and later modernization. As a cultural agent, modern medical knowledge challenged traditional medical practices and beliefs, and set a new cultural standard of truth, morality, and aesthetic that was to become the cultural basis of modern Malaya and later Malaysia. Using Weber and Habermas theory of societal rationalization, I further contend that the disenchantment of the world by modern medical knowledge, and the reign of the instrumental rationality of modern science, resulted in a predicament of modernity that continues to plague modern Malaysia. The tension of modernity is reflected in the struggle by the Malaysian government to maintain a balance between the pursuit of modernity on one hand, and the preservation of Islamic religious beliefs that define the very nature of the Malaysian nation on the other. In other words, there is an effort to make Malaysia both a modern scientific state and a Muslim state; and I contend that the goal is achieved through cultural discourses of Islam and modern science that are in harmony with each other.

The focus of this thesis is on the social history of public health and medicine in British Malaya during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. I argue that the introduction of modern medicine, medical services, and medical knowledge to Malaya, while serving the immediate needs of colonial economic extraction, and providing legitimacy to colonial rule, also functioned as a cultural agent of colonization, and later modernization. As a cultural agent, modern medical knowledge challenged traditional medical practices and beliefs, and set a new cultural standard of truth, morality, and aesthetic that was to become the cultural basis of modern Malaya and later Malaysia. Using Weber and Habermas theory of societal rationalization, I further contend that the disenchantment of the world by modern medical knowledge, and the reign of the instrumental rationality of modern science, resulted in a predicament of modernity that continues to plague modern Malaysia. The tension of modernity is reflected in the struggle by the Malaysian government to maintain a balance between the pursuit of modernity on one hand, and the preservation of Islamic religious beliefs that define the very nature of the Malaysian nation on the other. In other words, there is an effort to make Malaysia both a modern scientific state and a Muslim state; and I contend that the goal is achieved through cultural discourses of Islam and modern science that are in harmony with each other.

As North American plants took root in Parisian botanical gardens and regularly appeared in scientific texts in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, they retained their connections to networks of ecological and cultural exchange in colonial North America. In this dissertation I study the history of French botany and natural history as it became an Atlantic enterprise during this time, analyzing the production of knowledge about North American flora and the place of this knowledge in larger processes of colonialism and imperial expansion in the French Atlantic World. I focus particular attention on recovering the role of aboriginal peoples in the production of knowledge about colonial environments on both sides of the Atlantic. Rather than integrating aboriginal collectors, chefs and healers into traditional histories of western science, I integrate familiar histories of science into larger histories of cultural contact in an Atlantic World with multiple centres of knowledge production and exchange. This dissertation develops two closely related arguments. First, I argue that French encounters with American environments and Native cultures were inseparable. Jesuit missionaries, for example, called both a plant and a native culture “wild rice,” conflating descriptions of local ecological and morphological features of the Great Lakes plant with accounts of indigenous cultural and moral attributes. Second, “Plants and Peoples” also analyzes the process by which the Paris-based Académie Royale des Sciences expanded its reach into North America and argues that French colonial naturalists drew on a vibrant conversation between diverse colonial and indigenous communities. Yet indigenous participation and the knowledges they provided were progressively effaced over the course of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This research therefore presents both a new understanding of the history of early modern and enlightenment botany and a lens through which to revisit and enrich familiar histories of cultural exchange in colonial North America.

As North American plants took root in Parisian botanical gardens and regularly appeared in scientific texts in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, they retained their connections to networks of ecological and cultural exchange in colonial North America. In this dissertation I study the history of French botany and natural history as it became an Atlantic enterprise during this time, analyzing the production of knowledge about North American flora and the place of this knowledge in larger processes of colonialism and imperial expansion in the French Atlantic World. I focus particular attention on recovering the role of aboriginal peoples in the production of knowledge about colonial environments on both sides of the Atlantic. Rather than integrating aboriginal collectors, chefs and healers into traditional histories of western science, I integrate familiar histories of science into larger histories of cultural contact in an Atlantic World with multiple centres of knowledge production and exchange. This dissertation develops two closely related arguments. First, I argue that French encounters with American environments and Native cultures were inseparable. Jesuit missionaries, for example, called both a plant and a native culture “wild rice,” conflating descriptions of local ecological and morphological features of the Great Lakes plant with accounts of indigenous cultural and moral attributes. Second, “Plants and Peoples” also analyzes the process by which the Paris-based Académie Royale des Sciences expanded its reach into North America and argues that French colonial naturalists drew on a vibrant conversation between diverse colonial and indigenous communities. Yet indigenous participation and the knowledges they provided were progressively effaced over the course of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This research therefore presents both a new understanding of the history of early modern and enlightenment botany and a lens through which to revisit and enrich familiar histories of cultural exchange in colonial North America.

José Antonio de Alzate y Ramírez (1737-1799) est reconnu aujourd’hui, entre autres choses, comme un des premiers journalistes, scientifiques, critiques littéraires et patriotes mexicains. Ce mémoire présente, dans un premier temps, une introduction à la vie et l’œuvre du personnage et rend compte de la réception globale de celle-ci, de 1831 à nos jours. Nous y montrons que les différents journaux d’Alzate, ses Diario literario de México (1768), Asuntos Varios sobre Ciencia y Arte (1772-1773), Observaciones sobre la física (1787-1788), et Gaceta de literatura (1788-1795), ont été étudiés principalement dans le contexte historique de la création de la nation mexicaine et que les intentions patriotiques ou proto-nationales qui lui ont été prêtées méritent d’être nuancées. Effectivement, bien qu’il ait publié plusieurs textes susceptibles de contribuer à améliorer certains domaines de l’économie américaine, tels que les activités minières, l’agriculture et les arts manuels, l’auteur révèle à travers son discours un désir de participer, au moyen de ses journaux, au mouvement scientifique européen. En ce sens, nous défendons l’hypothèse qu’Alzate ait choisi de pratiquer un type de journalisme spécifique, inspiré notamment du Journal des Sçavans (1665) et du Journal de Physique (1771-1773), qui lui permettrait de s’adresser autant à ses compatriotes, qu’aux membres de la République des Lettres. Nous présentons une étude comparative des similarités qui existent entre les publications d’Alzate et les deux journaux français ci-haut mentionnés, notamment en ce qui concerne les buts énoncés par leurs éditeurs ainsi que les modalités discursives et les thèmes qui les caractérisent. Dans le même ordre d’idée, nous soutenons que les publications d’Alzate présentent plusieurs des éléments clés qui définissent les journaux savants produits en Europe durant le dix-huitième siècle selon les études réalisées par Jean-Pierre Vittu. Enfin, nous expliquons comment le modèle du «journal savant» a été adapté par Alzate aux particularités de la Nouvelle-Espagne. Nous abordons, entre autres, les questions de la censure, de la critique et du manque de ressources financières dont il a souffert, facteurs qui, selon nos études, ont façonné l’entreprise du personnage. D’autre part, nous analysons les attitudes scientifiques adoptées par Alzate en tant que membre de la République des Lettres. Nous examinons aussi les principales sources de savoir qu’il a préconisées en tant qu’auteur afin d’accomplir certains devoirs propres aux membres de cette communauté. / José Antonio de Alzate y Ramírez is known for being one of the first Mexican journalists, scientists, literary critics and insurgents. The first chapter of this thesis offers a concise presentation of the author’s life and work and an overall review of the studies that were made of his Diario literario de México (1768), Asuntos varios sobre ciencias y artes (1772-1773), Observaciones sobre la física, historia natural y artes útiles (1787-1788) and Gaceta de literatura de México (1788-1795), from the year 1831 until this day. This work shows that his four newspapers have been studied mainly within the historical context of the creation of the Mexican nation and it demonstrates that the patriotic or proto-national intentions that were attributed to him deserve to be reconsidered. This thesis demonstrates that Alzate chose to produce a particular type of journalism somewhat similar to the French Journal des Sçavans (1665-1683) and Journal de Physique (1771-1773) that would allow him to contribute personally to the progress of science. Up to this day, no important study has been made comparing the prestigious French journals and Alzate’s publications. We are taking a first step in this direction as we highlight how his project appears to have been directly inspired by the two French periodicals, comparing the goals their editors shared and the subjects they explored. It will also be shown that Alzate’s periodicals present the essential elements that define most of the learned journals (“journaux savants”) published in Europe during the eighteenth century, as defined by Jean-Pierre Vittu. Finally, this thesis illustrates how Alzate adapted the model of the “journal savant” to the particularities of the society of New Spain. It focuses on the subjects of censorship, criticism and the lack of financial or institutional support that the Mexican journalist had to deal with. It also clarifies Alzate’s scientific attitudes as an author by examining his objective of belonging to the universal Republic of Letters and the specific purposes that its members were trying to achieve. It also presents a new definition of Alzate’s global scientific vision and explores the sources of knowledge he considered to be valuable in order to accomplish his goals as a “savant”. / José Antonio de Alzate y Ramírez es reconocido hoy como uno de los primeros periodistas, científicos, críticos literarios y hasta “insurgentes” mexicanos. En primer lugar, ofrecemos una breve presentación de la vida y obra del autor y damos cuenta de la recepción general que tuvieron sus Diario literario de México (1768), Asuntos varios sobre ciencias y artes (1772-1773), Observaciones sobre la física, historia natural y artes útiles (1787-1788) y Gaceta de literatura de México (1788-1795), desde 1831 hasta nuestros días. Damos a entender, entre otras cosas, que la obra de nuestro personaje ha sido estudiada principalmente dentro del contexto histórico nacional mexicano y que las intenciones patrióticas que se le han prestado merecen ser matizadas. Por nuestra parte, preferimos analizar sus publicaciones e intenciones en relación con su sentimiento de pertenencia a la República de las Letras. En este sentido, en el segundo apartado de nuestra memoria, demostramos que Alzate eligió practicar un tipo de periodismo, inspirado principalmente en el Journal des Sçavans (1665-1683) y el Journal de Physique (1771-1773), que le permitiera participar personalmente en el progreso de la Ciencia. Hasta el momento, no se había hecho ningún trabajo comparativo entre las principales publicaciones sabias francesas y los papeles que produjo Alzate. Damos, pues, un primer paso en esta dirección y señalamos en qué manera se asemejan dichas publicaciones, sobre todo en cuanto a propósitos, contenido y modalidades discursivas. Mostramos, pues, que los papeles periódicos publicados por el novohispano presentan muchos de los elementos fundamentales que caracterizan, según Jean-Pierre Vittu, al “papel periódico sabio” europeo. Luego, ilustramos cómo dicho género de periodismo fue adaptado por Alzate a las particularidades de la sociedad colonial novohispana. Abordamos los temas de la censura, de la crítica y de la falta de recursos económicos que constituyeron los principales obstáculos que nuestro publicista enfrentó a lo largo de su carrera. Volvemos también a definir las actitudes científicas manifestadas por Alzate como productor de saber en función de su sentimiento de pertenencia a la República de las Letras y de los deberes que buscaron cumplir sus miembros. Redefinimos, pues, la visión científica global que adoptó y las fuentes de saber que consideró válidas.

José Antonio de Alzate y Ramírez (1737-1799) est reconnu aujourd’hui, entre autres choses, comme un des premiers journalistes, scientifiques, critiques littéraires et patriotes mexicains. Ce mémoire présente, dans un premier temps, une introduction à la vie et l’œuvre du personnage et rend compte de la réception globale de celle-ci, de 1831 à nos jours. Nous y montrons que les différents journaux d’Alzate, ses Diario literario de México (1768), Asuntos Varios sobre Ciencia y Arte (1772-1773), Observaciones sobre la física (1787-1788), et Gaceta de literatura (1788-1795), ont été étudiés principalement dans le contexte historique de la création de la nation mexicaine et que les intentions patriotiques ou proto-nationales qui lui ont été prêtées méritent d’être nuancées. Effectivement, bien qu’il ait publié plusieurs textes susceptibles de contribuer à améliorer certains domaines de l’économie américaine, tels que les activités minières, l’agriculture et les arts manuels, l’auteur révèle à travers son discours un désir de participer, au moyen de ses journaux, au mouvement scientifique européen. En ce sens, nous défendons l’hypothèse qu’Alzate ait choisi de pratiquer un type de journalisme spécifique, inspiré notamment du Journal des Sçavans (1665) et du Journal de Physique (1771-1773), qui lui permettrait de s’adresser autant à ses compatriotes, qu’aux membres de la République des Lettres. Nous présentons une étude comparative des similarités qui existent entre les publications d’Alzate et les deux journaux français ci-haut mentionnés, notamment en ce qui concerne les buts énoncés par leurs éditeurs ainsi que les modalités discursives et les thèmes qui les caractérisent. Dans le même ordre d’idée, nous soutenons que les publications d’Alzate présentent plusieurs des éléments clés qui définissent les journaux savants produits en Europe durant le dix-huitième siècle selon les études réalisées par Jean-Pierre Vittu. Enfin, nous expliquons comment le modèle du «journal savant» a été adapté par Alzate aux particularités de la Nouvelle-Espagne. Nous abordons, entre autres, les questions de la censure, de la critique et du manque de ressources financières dont il a souffert, facteurs qui, selon nos études, ont façonné l’entreprise du personnage. D’autre part, nous analysons les attitudes scientifiques adoptées par Alzate en tant que membre de la République des Lettres. Nous examinons aussi les principales sources de savoir qu’il a préconisées en tant qu’auteur afin d’accomplir certains devoirs propres aux membres de cette communauté. / José Antonio de Alzate y Ramírez is known for being one of the first Mexican journalists, scientists, literary critics and insurgents. The first chapter of this thesis offers a concise presentation of the author’s life and work and an overall review of the studies that were made of his Diario literario de México (1768), Asuntos varios sobre ciencias y artes (1772-1773), Observaciones sobre la física, historia natural y artes útiles (1787-1788) and Gaceta de literatura de México (1788-1795), from the year 1831 until this day. This work shows that his four newspapers have been studied mainly within the historical context of the creation of the Mexican nation and it demonstrates that the patriotic or proto-national intentions that were attributed to him deserve to be reconsidered. This thesis demonstrates that Alzate chose to produce a particular type of journalism somewhat similar to the French Journal des Sçavans (1665-1683) and Journal de Physique (1771-1773) that would allow him to contribute personally to the progress of science. Up to this day, no important study has been made comparing the prestigious French journals and Alzate’s publications. We are taking a first step in this direction as we highlight how his project appears to have been directly inspired by the two French periodicals, comparing the goals their editors shared and the subjects they explored. It will also be shown that Alzate’s periodicals present the essential elements that define most of the learned journals (“journaux savants”) published in Europe during the eighteenth century, as defined by Jean-Pierre Vittu. Finally, this thesis illustrates how Alzate adapted the model of the “journal savant” to the particularities of the society of New Spain. It focuses on the subjects of censorship, criticism and the lack of financial or institutional support that the Mexican journalist had to deal with. It also clarifies Alzate’s scientific attitudes as an author by examining his objective of belonging to the universal Republic of Letters and the specific purposes that its members were trying to achieve. It also presents a new definition of Alzate’s global scientific vision and explores the sources of knowledge he considered to be valuable in order to accomplish his goals as a “savant”. / José Antonio de Alzate y Ramírez es reconocido hoy como uno de los primeros periodistas, científicos, críticos literarios y hasta “insurgentes” mexicanos. En primer lugar, ofrecemos una breve presentación de la vida y obra del autor y damos cuenta de la recepción general que tuvieron sus Diario literario de México (1768), Asuntos varios sobre ciencias y artes (1772-1773), Observaciones sobre la física, historia natural y artes útiles (1787-1788) y Gaceta de literatura de México (1788-1795), desde 1831 hasta nuestros días. Damos a entender, entre otras cosas, que la obra de nuestro personaje ha sido estudiada principalmente dentro del contexto histórico nacional mexicano y que las intenciones patrióticas que se le han prestado merecen ser matizadas. Por nuestra parte, preferimos analizar sus publicaciones e intenciones en relación con su sentimiento de pertenencia a la República de las Letras. En este sentido, en el segundo apartado de nuestra memoria, demostramos que Alzate eligió practicar un tipo de periodismo, inspirado principalmente en el Journal des Sçavans (1665-1683) y el Journal de Physique (1771-1773), que le permitiera participar personalmente en el progreso de la Ciencia. Hasta el momento, no se había hecho ningún trabajo comparativo entre las principales publicaciones sabias francesas y los papeles que produjo Alzate. Damos, pues, un primer paso en esta dirección y señalamos en qué manera se asemejan dichas publicaciones, sobre todo en cuanto a propósitos, contenido y modalidades discursivas. Mostramos, pues, que los papeles periódicos publicados por el novohispano presentan muchos de los elementos fundamentales que caracterizan, según Jean-Pierre Vittu, al “papel periódico sabio” europeo. Luego, ilustramos cómo dicho género de periodismo fue adaptado por Alzate a las particularidades de la sociedad colonial novohispana. Abordamos los temas de la censura, de la crítica y de la falta de recursos económicos que constituyeron los principales obstáculos que nuestro publicista enfrentó a lo largo de su carrera. Volvemos también a definir las actitudes científicas manifestadas por Alzate como productor de saber en función de su sentimiento de pertenencia a la República de las Letras y de los deberes que buscaron cumplir sus miembros. Redefinimos, pues, la visión científica global que adoptó y las fuentes de saber que consideró válidas.

While the role of photography in enforcing hegemonic ideologies has been amply studied, this thesis addresses the under-researched topic of how photography undermined dominant narratives in specific historical circumstances. I argue that, in the later part of the long nineteenth century, photographs were used to represent the natural world in contexts where their functions were uncertain and their capacities not clearly defined, and that these hesitations allowed for the expression of resistances to dominant social attitudes towards nature. I analyse how these divergences were articulated through three independent case studies, each addressing a corpus of photographs which has been marginalised in scholarly discourse. The case studies all concern photographs of vegetation. The first one discusses photographs produced around Fontainebleau during the Second French Empire, commonly understood as auxiliary materials for Barbizon painters, and argues that they were in fact autonomous representations, reflecting marginal modes of experiencing nature which resisted its prevailing construction as spectacle. The second case study examines a photographic series depicting Amazonian vegetation, published between 1900 and 1906, and shows how, in attempting to satisfy conflicting ideological demands, these photographs undermined the hierarchies enforced upon the natural world by colonial science. The third case study analyses photographs from an early twentieth-century environmentalist treatise, and demonstrates how, while the author's discourse seemingly complied with conventional attitudes towards nature, the photographs instituted an ethical stance opposed to early conservation's aesthetic focus and anthropocentrism. Throughout the case studies, I argue that the photographs were consubstantial to the emergence of these resistances; that dissenting representations stemmed from a tension between their producers' lived experience and the ideological frameworks which informed each context; and that this process engendered remarkable formal innovations, which are not usually associated to non-artistic images. I contend that radical renewals of visual expression occur in all representational contexts, as image producers adapt their tools or forge new ones according to circumstances, and that more attention must be paid to such visual innovations outside the field of artistic production.