Americans Collecting Natural History
In the first decades of the nineteenth century, Americans established institutions of science that called upon the public to donate materials and further the study of natural history. This thesis examines how resident scholars recruited sailors, merchants, and amateur naturalists to collect objects...
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2020
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ftcityunivny:oai:academicworks.cuny.edu:gc_etds-4598 2023-05-15T17:33:54+02:00 Americans Collecting Natural History Pollard, Herbert A, IV 2020-02-01T08:00:00Z application/pdf https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/3549 https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4598&context=gc_etds English eng CUNY Academic Works https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/3549 https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4598&context=gc_etds Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects natural history museums nineteenth-century Philadelphia nineteenth-century medicine nineteenth-century science History of Science Technology and Medicine thesis 2020 ftcityunivny 2021-08-28T22:18:15Z In the first decades of the nineteenth century, Americans established institutions of science that called upon the public to donate materials and further the study of natural history. This thesis examines how resident scholars recruited sailors, merchants, and amateur naturalists to collect objects and accounts of natural history in South America. In turn, we find that the kinds of education and professional training that young doctors received in antebellum Philadelphia gave naval surgeons like William S. W. Ruschenberger the skills and temperament to collect objects that were otherwise considered sacred or taboo. Finally, as medical education in urban Philadelphia divided the labor of medicine between pharmacists and physicians, we find that educators believed that the study of natural history was necessary to clarify the use and nature of therapeutics. Taken together, naturalists in Philadelphia connected concerns of science and trade in such a way that even when conducting business abroad, young Americans would convey curious objects and accounts back to their peers in the North Atlantic. This activity created a diverse network of collectors throughout the Americas, that directed mineral specimens, live plants, novel medicines, and human bones into Philadelphia’s cabinets of natural history. Thesis North Atlantic City University of New York: CUNY Academic Works |
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City University of New York: CUNY Academic Works |
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ftcityunivny |
language |
English |
topic |
natural history museums nineteenth-century Philadelphia nineteenth-century medicine nineteenth-century science History of Science Technology and Medicine |
spellingShingle |
natural history museums nineteenth-century Philadelphia nineteenth-century medicine nineteenth-century science History of Science Technology and Medicine Pollard, Herbert A, IV Americans Collecting Natural History |
topic_facet |
natural history museums nineteenth-century Philadelphia nineteenth-century medicine nineteenth-century science History of Science Technology and Medicine |
description |
In the first decades of the nineteenth century, Americans established institutions of science that called upon the public to donate materials and further the study of natural history. This thesis examines how resident scholars recruited sailors, merchants, and amateur naturalists to collect objects and accounts of natural history in South America. In turn, we find that the kinds of education and professional training that young doctors received in antebellum Philadelphia gave naval surgeons like William S. W. Ruschenberger the skills and temperament to collect objects that were otherwise considered sacred or taboo. Finally, as medical education in urban Philadelphia divided the labor of medicine between pharmacists and physicians, we find that educators believed that the study of natural history was necessary to clarify the use and nature of therapeutics. Taken together, naturalists in Philadelphia connected concerns of science and trade in such a way that even when conducting business abroad, young Americans would convey curious objects and accounts back to their peers in the North Atlantic. This activity created a diverse network of collectors throughout the Americas, that directed mineral specimens, live plants, novel medicines, and human bones into Philadelphia’s cabinets of natural history. |
format |
Thesis |
author |
Pollard, Herbert A, IV |
author_facet |
Pollard, Herbert A, IV |
author_sort |
Pollard, Herbert A, IV |
title |
Americans Collecting Natural History |
title_short |
Americans Collecting Natural History |
title_full |
Americans Collecting Natural History |
title_fullStr |
Americans Collecting Natural History |
title_full_unstemmed |
Americans Collecting Natural History |
title_sort |
americans collecting natural history |
publisher |
CUNY Academic Works |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/3549 https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4598&context=gc_etds |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects |
op_relation |
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/3549 https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4598&context=gc_etds |
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1766132541362798592 |