Book review of "Natural Science and the Origins of British Empire. Empires in Perspective" by Sarah Irving, Pickering and Chatto Publishers, UK.

Brennan, Claire

Abstract

[Extract] The idea at the heart of this book is an interesting one: that the time during which hte British Empire was first developing was also a time of rapid development in European knowledge of the natural world (in large part because of the discovery of the Americas), and that the expansion of empire was bound up with the expansion of knowledge. Sarah Irving considers the religious views and motivations of the people involved in the work of early modern science, and of integrating the Caribbean and North America into the British worldview. Her argument that the early modern interpretation of the story of Adam and Eve's expulsion from Eden involved a loss of perfect knowledge of the world, knowledge that might be regained through the Americas, is explored in detail through this book.

Journal

Itinerario

Publication Name

N/A

Volume

ISBN/ISSN

0165-1153

Edition

N/A

Issue

Pages Count

Location

N/A

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Publisher Url

N/A

Publisher Location

N/A

Publish Date

N/A

Url

N/A

Date

N/A

EISSN

N/A

DOI

10.1017/S0165115300002485