Pollen, women, war and other things: reflections on the history of palynology

Kevin J. Edwards

doi:10.1007/s00334-017-0629-8

Pollen, women, war and other things: reflections on the history of palynology

Kevin J. Edwards

Geography & Environment

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

14 Citations (Scopus)

9 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The development of palynology since its recognised launch in 1916 by Lennart von Post is examined in terms of its historiography, the biographies of pollen analysts and the role of those who have influenced the discipline. Emphasis is placed upon research beginnings in Scandinavia (especially Sweden), Great Britain and Ireland. Within an analytical narrative which includes archival and published sources, special consideration is given to a ‘proclamation’ on methodology which appeared in 1909, on a supposed geology/botany dichotomy stemming from von Post’s background, on the forgotten early practitioners in Britain and Ireland and their connections, on the role of women up to the end of the Second World War and on issues related to wartime hostilities. Present day palynology can trace a continuity from von Post and palynologists are part of an extended disciplinary genealogy. Ignorance of these can be seen as a loss of heritage and to represent an intellectual impoverishment.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	319-335
Number of pages	17
Journal	Vegetation History and Archaeobotany
Volume	27
Issue number	2
Early online date	8 Aug 2017
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-017-0629-8
Publication status	Published - Mar 2018

Bibliographical note

I am grateful to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien; KVA), Stockholm, for hosting the conference at which the themes in this paper were presented. For archival material, I appreciate access to (and the assistance of): Gunnar Erdtman papers, Center for History of Science, KVA (Maria Asp); Thomas Woodhead papers, Kirklees Museums and Galleries (Tolson Memorial Museum, Huddersfield; Chris Yates); Harold Hyde papers, Botany Section Correspondence, Amgueddfa Cymru National Museum Wales (Heather Pardoe); Kathleen Blackburn papers, Natural History Society of Northumbria Archive, Great North Museum (Hancock), Newcastle upon Tyne (Alan Hart); material concerning Florence Campbell James, Aberystwyth University (Julie Archer). Richard Bradshaw, Paul Buckland, Andrew Cameron, Peter Coxon, Egill Erlendsson, Michael Grant, Alan Hart, Angus Lunn, Limi Mao, Heather Pardoe, Ed Schofield and Richard West are thanked for advice and assistance. I appreciate the constructive comments on a draft of this paper by John Birks. Jenny Johnston assisted with artwork.

Keywords

Lennart von Post
Gustaf Lagerheim
Gunnar Erdtman
Palyngology
Historiography
Pioneers
Biographies

Access to Document

10.1007/s00334-017-0629-8Licence: CC BY

Pollen, women, war and other things
© The Author(s) 2017 This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
Final published version, 1.6 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

@article{07f09ea13c934cb798f7e67c610d2966,

title = "Pollen, women, war and other things: reflections on the history of palynology",

abstract = "The development of palynology since its recognised launch in 1916 by Lennart von Post is examined in terms of its historiography, the biographies of pollen analysts and the role of those who have influenced the discipline. Emphasis is placed upon research beginnings in Scandinavia (especially Sweden), Great Britain and Ireland. Within an analytical narrative which includes archival and published sources, special consideration is given to a {\textquoteleft}proclamation{\textquoteright} on methodology which appeared in 1909, on a supposed geology/botany dichotomy stemming from von Post{\textquoteright}s background, on the forgotten early practitioners in Britain and Ireland and their connections, on the role of women up to the end of the Second World War and on issues related to wartime hostilities. Present day palynology can trace a continuity from von Post and palynologists are part of an extended disciplinary genealogy. Ignorance of these can be seen as a loss of heritage and to represent an intellectual impoverishment.",

keywords = "Lennart von Post, Gustaf Lagerheim, Gunnar Erdtman, Palyngology, Historiography , Pioneers, Biographies",

author = "Edwards, {Kevin J.}",

note = "I am grateful to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien; KVA), Stockholm, for hosting the conference at which the themes in this paper were presented. For archival material, I appreciate access to (and the assistance of): Gunnar Erdtman papers, Center for History of Science, KVA (Maria Asp); Thomas Woodhead papers, Kirklees Museums and Galleries (Tolson Memorial Museum, Huddersfield; Chris Yates); Harold Hyde papers, Botany Section Correspondence, Amgueddfa Cymru National Museum Wales (Heather Pardoe); Kathleen Blackburn papers, Natural History Society of Northumbria Archive, Great North Museum (Hancock), Newcastle upon Tyne (Alan Hart); material concerning Florence Campbell James, Aberystwyth University (Julie Archer). Richard Bradshaw, Paul Buckland, Andrew Cameron, Peter Coxon, Egill Erlendsson, Michael Grant, Alan Hart, Angus Lunn, Limi Mao, Heather Pardoe, Ed Schofield and Richard West are thanked for advice and assistance. I appreciate the constructive comments on a draft of this paper by John Birks. Jenny Johnston assisted with artwork.",

year = "2018",

month = mar,

doi = "10.1007/s00334-017-0629-8",

language = "English",

volume = "27",

pages = "319--335",

journal = "Vegetation History and Archaeobotany",

issn = "0939-6314",

publisher = "Springer New York",

number = "2",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Pollen, women, war and other things

T2 - reflections on the history of palynology

AU - Edwards, Kevin J.

N1 - I am grateful to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien; KVA), Stockholm, for hosting the conference at which the themes in this paper were presented. For archival material, I appreciate access to (and the assistance of): Gunnar Erdtman papers, Center for History of Science, KVA (Maria Asp); Thomas Woodhead papers, Kirklees Museums and Galleries (Tolson Memorial Museum, Huddersfield; Chris Yates); Harold Hyde papers, Botany Section Correspondence, Amgueddfa Cymru National Museum Wales (Heather Pardoe); Kathleen Blackburn papers, Natural History Society of Northumbria Archive, Great North Museum (Hancock), Newcastle upon Tyne (Alan Hart); material concerning Florence Campbell James, Aberystwyth University (Julie Archer). Richard Bradshaw, Paul Buckland, Andrew Cameron, Peter Coxon, Egill Erlendsson, Michael Grant, Alan Hart, Angus Lunn, Limi Mao, Heather Pardoe, Ed Schofield and Richard West are thanked for advice and assistance. I appreciate the constructive comments on a draft of this paper by John Birks. Jenny Johnston assisted with artwork.

PY - 2018/3

Y1 - 2018/3

N2 - The development of palynology since its recognised launch in 1916 by Lennart von Post is examined in terms of its historiography, the biographies of pollen analysts and the role of those who have influenced the discipline. Emphasis is placed upon research beginnings in Scandinavia (especially Sweden), Great Britain and Ireland. Within an analytical narrative which includes archival and published sources, special consideration is given to a ‘proclamation’ on methodology which appeared in 1909, on a supposed geology/botany dichotomy stemming from von Post’s background, on the forgotten early practitioners in Britain and Ireland and their connections, on the role of women up to the end of the Second World War and on issues related to wartime hostilities. Present day palynology can trace a continuity from von Post and palynologists are part of an extended disciplinary genealogy. Ignorance of these can be seen as a loss of heritage and to represent an intellectual impoverishment.

AB - The development of palynology since its recognised launch in 1916 by Lennart von Post is examined in terms of its historiography, the biographies of pollen analysts and the role of those who have influenced the discipline. Emphasis is placed upon research beginnings in Scandinavia (especially Sweden), Great Britain and Ireland. Within an analytical narrative which includes archival and published sources, special consideration is given to a ‘proclamation’ on methodology which appeared in 1909, on a supposed geology/botany dichotomy stemming from von Post’s background, on the forgotten early practitioners in Britain and Ireland and their connections, on the role of women up to the end of the Second World War and on issues related to wartime hostilities. Present day palynology can trace a continuity from von Post and palynologists are part of an extended disciplinary genealogy. Ignorance of these can be seen as a loss of heritage and to represent an intellectual impoverishment.

KW - Lennart von Post

KW - Gustaf Lagerheim

KW - Gunnar Erdtman

KW - Palyngology

KW - Historiography

KW - Pioneers

KW - Biographies

U2 - 10.1007/s00334-017-0629-8

DO - 10.1007/s00334-017-0629-8

M3 - Article

SN - 0939-6314

VL - 27

SP - 319

EP - 335

JO - Vegetation History and Archaeobotany

JF - Vegetation History and Archaeobotany

IS - 2

ER -

Pollen, women, war and other things: reflections on the history of palynology

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Cite this