Review of The Culture of Nature in Britain, 1680-1860
The title of P. M. Harman's sweeping survey strongly recalls that of Keith Thomas's pioneering Man and the Natural World: Changing Attitudes in England, 1500–1800 (1983). And in a sense, the two books treat the same topic, although with large differences that cannot easily be attributed ei...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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University of Chicago Press
2012
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/72025 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6278-3571 |
| _version_ | 1826193804585074688 |
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| author | Ritvo, Harriet |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Humanities. History Section |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Humanities. History Section Ritvo, Harriet |
| author_sort | Ritvo, Harriet |
| collection | MIT |
| description | The title of P. M. Harman's sweeping survey strongly recalls that of Keith Thomas's pioneering Man and the Natural World: Changing Attitudes in England, 1500–1800 (1983). And in a sense, the two books treat the same topic, although with large differences that cannot easily be attributed either to the progress of scholarship in the last quarter century or to the fact that Harman, unlike Thomas, is a historian of science. Perhaps the explanation lies simply in Raymond Williams's famous assertion that “nature” is one of the most complex words in the English language (Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society [1976]). Thomas's nature is concrete, robustly composed of its constituent animals, vegetables, and minerals. Harman's nature is more ethereal, embodied in the ideas of philosophers, writers, and artists. The structure of this book is thematic, with chapters on design, exploration, landscape (two), … |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T09:45:40Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/72025 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T09:45:40Z |
| publishDate | 2012 |
| publisher | University of Chicago Press |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/720252022-09-26T13:31:48Z Review of The Culture of Nature in Britain, 1680-1860 Ritvo, Harriet Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Humanities. History Section Ritvo, Harriet Ritvo, Harriet The title of P. M. Harman's sweeping survey strongly recalls that of Keith Thomas's pioneering Man and the Natural World: Changing Attitudes in England, 1500–1800 (1983). And in a sense, the two books treat the same topic, although with large differences that cannot easily be attributed either to the progress of scholarship in the last quarter century or to the fact that Harman, unlike Thomas, is a historian of science. Perhaps the explanation lies simply in Raymond Williams's famous assertion that “nature” is one of the most complex words in the English language (Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society [1976]). Thomas's nature is concrete, robustly composed of its constituent animals, vegetables, and minerals. Harman's nature is more ethereal, embodied in the ideas of philosophers, writers, and artists. The structure of this book is thematic, with chapters on design, exploration, landscape (two), … 2012-08-07T20:54:18Z 2012-08-07T20:54:18Z 2011-04 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/BookReview 0002-8762 1937-5239 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/72025 Ritvo, Harriet. “P. M. Harman . The Culture of Nature in Britain, 1680–1860 . New Haven : Yale University Press . 2009 . Pp. Xi, 393. $65.00.” The American Historical Review 116.2 (2011): 514–514. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6278-3571 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/ahr.116.2.514 American Historical Review Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf University of Chicago Press University of Chicago Press |
| spellingShingle | Ritvo, Harriet Review of The Culture of Nature in Britain, 1680-1860 |
| title | Review of The Culture of Nature in Britain, 1680-1860 |
| title_full | Review of The Culture of Nature in Britain, 1680-1860 |
| title_fullStr | Review of The Culture of Nature in Britain, 1680-1860 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Review of The Culture of Nature in Britain, 1680-1860 |
| title_short | Review of The Culture of Nature in Britain, 1680-1860 |
| title_sort | review of the culture of nature in britain 1680 1860 |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/72025 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6278-3571 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ritvoharriet reviewofthecultureofnatureinbritain16801860 |