William John Burchell: The multi-skilled polymath

On the bicentenary of William John Burchell’s sojourn and journey in southern Africa, we review his contribution to science in the region. In November 1810, Burchell arrived in Cape Town and, in mid-1811, he set off on a 4-year, 7000-km journey of scientific exploration. When he returned to Cape Tow...

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Main Authors: Roger Stewart, Brian Warner
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Academy of Science of South Africa 2012-10-01
Series:South African Journal of Science
Online Access:http://www.sajs.co.za/index.php/SAJS/article/view/1207
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author Roger Stewart
Brian Warner
author_facet Roger Stewart
Brian Warner
author_sort Roger Stewart
collection DOAJ
description On the bicentenary of William John Burchell’s sojourn and journey in southern Africa, we review his contribution to science in the region. In November 1810, Burchell arrived in Cape Town and, in mid-1811, he set off on a 4-year, 7000-km journey of scientific exploration. When he returned to Cape Town in April 1815, he had amassed 63 000 specimens and 500 drawings. Burchell is remembered mainly for his contributions to descriptive and philosophical aspects of natural history of the country. He is less well known for some significant and novel contributions to the earth sciences, the social sciences and even astronomy. Burchell’s observations in physical geography and geology and his contribution to cartography have received little attention. In natural history, some of his views were prescient of the concepts of evolution and holism. In the social sciences, he provided unique ethnographic descriptions, developed an orthography of two indigenous languages and produced drawings that have attracted international research. William John Burchell is worthy of our memory.
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spelling doaj.art-98998dce66fb4e21bd44e02cacc44d432022-12-21T19:49:59ZengAcademy of Science of South AfricaSouth African Journal of Science0038-23531996-74892012-10-0110811-1219William John Burchell: The multi-skilled polymathRoger StewartBrian WarnerOn the bicentenary of William John Burchell’s sojourn and journey in southern Africa, we review his contribution to science in the region. In November 1810, Burchell arrived in Cape Town and, in mid-1811, he set off on a 4-year, 7000-km journey of scientific exploration. When he returned to Cape Town in April 1815, he had amassed 63 000 specimens and 500 drawings. Burchell is remembered mainly for his contributions to descriptive and philosophical aspects of natural history of the country. He is less well known for some significant and novel contributions to the earth sciences, the social sciences and even astronomy. Burchell’s observations in physical geography and geology and his contribution to cartography have received little attention. In natural history, some of his views were prescient of the concepts of evolution and holism. In the social sciences, he provided unique ethnographic descriptions, developed an orthography of two indigenous languages and produced drawings that have attracted international research. William John Burchell is worthy of our memory.http://www.sajs.co.za/index.php/SAJS/article/view/1207
spellingShingle Roger Stewart
Brian Warner
William John Burchell: The multi-skilled polymath
South African Journal of Science
title William John Burchell: The multi-skilled polymath
title_full William John Burchell: The multi-skilled polymath
title_fullStr William John Burchell: The multi-skilled polymath
title_full_unstemmed William John Burchell: The multi-skilled polymath
title_short William John Burchell: The multi-skilled polymath
title_sort william john burchell the multi skilled polymath
url http://www.sajs.co.za/index.php/SAJS/article/view/1207
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