Relocating Modern Science : Circulation and the Construction of Knowledge in South Asia and Europe, 1650-1900

Relocating Modern Science challenges the belief that modern science was created uniquely in the West and that it was subsequently diffused elsewhere. Through a detailed analysis of key moments of knowledge construction in botany, cartography, terrestrial surveying, linguistics, scientific education, and colonial administration, it demonstrates the crucial roles of intercultural encounter and circulation for their emergence. It engages with questions central to imperial, colonial, and South Asian history and presents a heuristic model for other world regions, periods, and fields of knowledge, as also for transnational and global studies. Cover 1 Contents 8 List of Illustrations 10 Acknowledgements 12 Introduction 15 1 Surgeons, Fakirs, Merchants, and Craftsmen: Making L’Empereur’s Jardin in Early Modern South Asia 41 From a Forgotten Codex in a Paris Archive... 45 ...to Eastern India in the Seventeenth Century 48 The Origins of the Jardin de Lorixa 49 Making the Jardin de Lorixa 54 The Jardin de Lorixa and the Hortus Malabaricus 58 L’Empereur’s Jardin Comes to Paris... 66 ...And Gets Anonymized in the Jardin du Roi 68 2 Circulation and the Emergence of Modern Mapping: Great Britain and Early Colonial India, 1764–1820 74 Early Modern British and Indian Geographical Practices 79 The Emergence of Large-scale Surveying in India and Britain 87 The Emergence of the Map as an ‘Objective’ Geographical Representation 96 3 Refashioning Civilities, Engineering Trust: William Jones, Indian Intermediaries, and the Production of Reliable Legal Knowledge in Late-Eighteenth-Century Bengal 109 A Day in the Life of a Calcutta Judge 109 Trust and Civility in Knowledge Production 116 Science and the East India Company 121 The Making of an Orientalist 128 Jones in India 133 The Jonesian Legacy Revisited 148 4 British Orientalism in the Early Nineteenth Century, or Globalism versus Universalism 153 Britain and the French Revolution 154 India, Britain, and France at the Turn of the Nineteenth Century 157 A College to Counter the French 160 The College in the Context of British Institutions 167 5 Defusing Diffusionism: The Institutionalization of Modern Science Education in Early-Nineteenth-Century Bengal 173 A College for the Instruction of Modern Science 173 Modern Science and the Self-fashioning of the Bhadralok 179 Learning among the British in the Early Nineteenth Century 183 Indigenous Representations of Science: Two Examples 187 6 When Human Travellers become Instruments: The Indo-British Exploration of Central Asia in the Nineteenth Century 195 Kashmir, 1863 195 Eastern Turkistan, 1863–4 201 Tibet, 1864–6 206 High Asia, 1868–82 212 Tibet, 1904 216 Instruments, Travel, and Science 216 Conclusion: Relocations 237 Bibliography 249 Index 278 A 278 B 278 C 280 D 281 E 282 F 283 G 283 H 284 I 285 J 287 K 288 L 289 M 290 N 291 O 292 P 292 Q 293 R 293 S 293 T 296 V 298 W 298 Y 298 Drawing on recent scholarship in the history and sociology of science, as well as in imperial and colonial history, Relocating Modern Science challenges both the belief that modern science was created uniquely in the West and the assumption that it was subsequently diffused, or imposed, elsewhere. Through six chronologically ordered case studies of knowledge construction in botany, cartography, terrestrial surveying, linguistics, scientific education, and colonial administration at key moments in their history, this book demonstrates the crucial importance of intercultural encounter -- here between South Asians and Europeans -- for the emergence of these sciences. It also revisits questions at the heart of research in the social studies of science -- interpersonal trust, replicability, calibration, translation, and the relationship between instruments and embodied skills -- showing the complex nature of their resolution in multicultural, and colonial, contexts. By following practitioners, skills, instruments, and ideas as they moved between continents and communities, this book stresses the crucial role of circulation in the construction and reconfiguration of scientific notions and practices. In addition to engaging with questions central to imperial, colonial, and South Asian history, Relocating Modern Science presents a heuristic model for specialists of other contact zones, periods, and fields of knowledge, as also for transnational and global studies Drawing on recent scholarship in the history and sociology of science, as well as in imperial and colonial history. Relocating Modern Science challenges both the belief that modern science was created uniquely in the West and the assumption that it was subsequently diffused, or imposed, elsewhere. Through six chronologically-ordered case-studies of knowledge construction in botany, cartography, terrestrial surveying, linguistics, scientific education and colonial administration, at key moments in their histories, this book demonstrates the crucial importance of intercultural encounters between South Asians and Europeans for the emergence of these disciplines.The book revisits questions which are at the heart of research in the social studies of science - interpersonal trust, replicability, calibration, translation, and the relationship between instruments and embodied skills - revealing the complex nature of their resolution in multicultural, and colonial contexts. The book follows the movement of practitioners, skills, instruments and ideas around continents and communities, and stresses the crucial role of circulation in the construction and reconfiguration of scientific notions and practices. In addition to engaging with questions central to imperial, colonial and South Asian history, Relocating Modern Science presents a heuristic model for specialists of other contact zones, periods and fields of knowledge, and for transnational and global studies. Front Matter....Pages i-xiii Introduction....Pages 1-26 Surgeons, Fakirs, Merchants, and Craftsmen: Making L’Empereur’s Jardin in Early Modern South Asia....Pages 27-59 Circulation and the Emergence of Modern Mapping: Great Britain and Early Colonial India, 1764–1820....Pages 60-94 Refashioning Civilities, Engineering Trust: William Jones, Indian Intermediaries, and the Production of Reliable Legal Knowledge in Late-Eighteenth-Century Bengal....Pages 95-138 British Orientalism in the Early Nineteenth Century, or Globalism versus Universalism....Pages 139-158 Defusing Diffusionism: The Institutionalization of Modern Science Education in Early-Nineteenth-Century Bengal....Pages 159-180 When Human Travellers become Instruments: The Indo-British Exploration of Central Asia in the Nineteenth Century....Pages 181-222 Conclusion....Pages 223-234 Back Matter....Pages 235-285 "Drawing on recent scholarship in the history and sociology of science, as well as in imperial and colonial history, Relocating Modern Science challenges both the belief that modern science was created uniquely in the West and the assumption that it was subsequently diffused, or imposed, elsewhere. Through six chronologically-ordered case-studies of knowledge construction in botany, cartography, terrestrial surveying, linguistics, scientific education and colonial administration, at key moments in their histories, this book demonstrates the crucial importance of intercultural encounters between South Asians and Europeans for the emergence of these disciplines."--Jacket Relocating Modern Science challenges the belief that modern science was created uniquely in the West and was subsequently diffused elsewhere. Through a detailed analysis of key moments in the history of science, it demonstrates the crucial roles of circulation and intercultural encounter for their emergence.