This thesis uses the letters of Carl Linnaeus to investigate the social and academic practices ofgeologists in the 18th century. Geology in the 18th century is understudied, and this study usessources written by Linnaeus, who was not famous but nevertheless active in geology, to study thedaily practices of geologists. Collective biography is used to bring together small and disparate datapoints. Personal factors had an influence on the practices the geologists engaged in. Though theactivities of nobles and academics could be similar, gender was a limiting factor, restricting the fieldto all women but those of the highest status. Age and seasonality were, surprisingly, very importantin determining which activities were undertaken. In the field, geologists’ travels were also impactedby their age. Their reporting on their travels was often linked to academic discussions, withcorresponding expectations of what they might find, and presentation of their findings that seemedto replicate the note taking in the field. This was part of a wider trend, also seen in exchangesbetween practitioners, of bringing the outside world into the study of the geologist. That way, theycould experience areas they were not likely to visit themselves. This was done intentionally, andgeologists took care to send each other interesting rocks. In much the same way, information wasexchanged between geologists, informing a correspondent of local geological features. Writtenpractices extended into giving recommendations for membership of academic societies andreviewing each other’s publications.The actions of geologists indicate that geology was a heterogeneous professional field (inBourdieu’s sense of the word) when it comes to the social origin of the practitioners. Nobles andacademics often engaged in similar activities, and worked together on equal standing, despite thestatus imbalance. Overall, geology in the 18th century gives the impression of an open field, in whichpractitioners were not in competition with each other, but aimed to complete each other’sknowledge, which would naturally be fragmented by their distance and the difficulties of travel.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-530533 |
| Date | January 2024 |
| Creators | Taveirne, Jitse |
| Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Historiska institutionen |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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