States of nature : science, agriculture, and environment in the spanish Caribbean, 1760-1940
- Type Paperback
- Publisher U.TEXAS
- Author/s McCook, Stuart
- ISBN13 9780292752573
- ISBN10 0292752571
- Pages 201
- Published 2002
- Language English
States of nature : science, agriculture, and environment in the spanish Caribbean, 1760-1940
This book traces the history of the intersections between nature, economy, and nation in the Spanish Caribbean through a history of the agricultural and botanical sciences. Growers and governments in Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Colombia, and Costa Rica turned to scientists to help them establish practical and ideological control over nature. They hoped to use science to alleviate the pressing environmental and economic stresses, without having to give up their commitment to export-led growth. Starting from an overview of the relationship among science, nature, and development throughout the export boom of 1760 to 1930, Stuart McCook examines such topics as the relationship between scientific plant surveys and nation-building, the development of a "creole science" to address the problems of tropical agriculture, the ecological rationalization of the sugar industry, and the growth oftechnocratic ideologies of science and progress. He concludes with a look at how the Great Depression of the 1930s changed the paradigms of economic and political development and the role of science and nature in these paradigms.
- Type Paperback
- Publisher U.TEXAS
- Author/s McCook, Stuart
- ISBN13 9780292752573
- ISBN10 0292752571
- Pages 201
- Published 2002
- Language English