3 Review(s)

How was the character of science shaped by the colonial experience? In turn, how might we make sense of how science contributed to colonialism? Saint Domingue (now Haiti) was the world's richest colony in the eighteenth century and home to an active society of science - one of only three in the world at that time. In this deeply researched and pathbreaking study of the colony, James E. McClellan III first raised his incisive questions about the relationship between science and society that historians of the colonial experience are still grappling with today. Long hard to find, the book is now back in print, accompanied by a new foreword by Vertus Saint-Louis, a native of Haiti and a widely acknowledged expert on colonialism. Frequently cited as the crucial starting point in understanding the Haitian revolution, "Colonialism and Science" will be welcomed by students and scholars alike.