How can we understand the significance of colonial acquisition? What relationship is there between colonial development and science? We will look at the mutual development of science and colonialism. In terms of method, we will focus on change over time, interpreting sources, and scale. By scale, this means whether we are looking at "the big picture" or whether we look at stories about specific individuals.
Dr. Mitchell thinks that the natural resources in South Africa help us to understand colonial development and conflict with native culture. The expansion of colonial settlement extended from the wettest parts of the interior cape region and then outward, pushing locals into the drier areas to the North and the East. Indigenous Khoisan people were forced into indentured labor by European settlers after they were forced out of their land and left without a way to practice their culture.
Technology such as guns, illness such as smallpox and ideas such as racial superiority and private property are all sources of power that were at play during colonial development of South Africa. The settlers and local Khoisan had different access to technology, science and medicine. They also had very different ideas about how humanity is related to nature. What are the long term consequences of the different ideas about and interactions with nature? And is nature still an important part of current Khoisan culture?
Early scientists, such as Galileo, did not consider himself to be a "scientist" as such. He was meticulous and methodical and the father of modern science, but he considered himself to be a philosopher. "Natural philosophy" was the name for early science. Many early scientists would display collections of curiousities and evidence. A Wunderkammer, or wonder room, could be shown to other natural philosophers or interested parties. These items were often acquired from trade with merchants who got their goods from international voyages. These precursors to natural history museums did not divide natural objects into different categories like modern scientists do.
Other displays of knowledge also reveal a shift from science as a consideration of nature as a whole to science as the study of a specific part of nature. The South African Museum, at the top of the botanical garden, features information about flora and fauna. The South African National Gallery, on the side of the garden, features European fine art. The Slave Lodge, at the bottom of the garden, now features displays of the material culture of Khoisan and white settlers. Why is there this division? Why is there this hierarchy? Other divisions, such as chronological division, are other ways to categorize knowledge.
So what is the significance of this division? Scientific division of plants and animals coincides with scientific division of people along racial lines. After 1492, European travelers experienced a radical increase of exposure to non-European culture. A number of technological innovations meant that they had better ships with more gunpower and more room for people and goods. Vessels became more efficient mobile fortresses. Early navigation required keeping track of landmarks on nearby landmasses. Trans-oceanic navigators had to find other ways to travel. This is how latitude and longitude markers were invented. As a wedding present, Christopher Columbus received his father-in-law's maps and maritime knowledge.
After the historic voyage of 1492, trans-oceanic voyage, many others traveled across oceans. In 1519, Magellan began the voyage that proved that the world's oceans were connected. European sailors could bring people all over the world. In some places, sailors merely made landfall. In other places, there were trading posts and rest posts set up. In yet other places, settlements were set up. In all these places, there were material exchanges with locals. Botany was of interest for local Europeans visiting South Africa.
Kolb, Sparrman and Blake represent different views towards nature. All three views fit together to create a more complete worldview. Kolb's ethnography emphasizes domestic activities of settlers and native Khoisan people. Sparrman, a Swede, gives detailed description of land, plants and animals. He uses Latin names and seldom writes about people. Wilhelm Bleek, a German, worked to categorize language of Africans with a zoologist. Bleek was convinced to come to South Africa to study the Zulu language. He provides the first written grammar of the language. Wilhelm met his wife, Jemima, during his travels from Europe to Africa. Lucy Lloyd, his sister-in-law, also collaborated with Wilhelm to study language. First they spoke with prisoners. One was brought home to live with them and another Zulu speaker joins them, ||kabbo. ||kabo became an important part of the intellectual community and provided a lot of information to Bleek and Lloyd.
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