MARKET 1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Global Exchange, Early Modern Europe, Pharmacology
Document Summary
Early feminist history of science sought to answer the challenge that women - by their very nature - were incapable of creating great science by cataloguing the achievements of female scientists. Gender inequalities have been built into the production and structure of knowledge itself. Plants are important cultural artifacts, often at the center of political and economic struggles. During the early modern period, plants were moved around the world - in vast quantities and to great economic effect. In the west indies of the 18th century plants played a major role in the political struggles surrounding slavery. Botany was a matter of state, important strategically for emerging nation states vying for land and resources. Curators of botanical gardens collected rare and beautiful plants for study and global exchange, but they also specialize in cultivating plants, crucial for europeans colonizing efforts in tropical climates.
