The Myth of the Natural Laboratory
Science, Empire, and Their Derangements on Pitcairn and Norfolk Islands
$138.87
- Hardcover
246 pages
- Release Date
31 December 2025
Summary
Outsiders have construed Pitcairn and Norfolk Islands as isolated natural laboratories since the 19th century. The islands’ inhabitants, descended from the 18th-century mutineers of the British naval vessel Bounty and their partners from Tahiti, Tubuai, Huahine, and Raiatea, have long been idealized by investigators as incomparable research subjects, uniquely suited for the study of racial, cultural, and linguistic “hybridity.” But how did these two Pacific islands come to be seen as natural …
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9798880700721 |
|---|---|
| Author: | Adrian Young |
| Publisher: | University of Hawai'i Press |
| Imprint: | University of Hawai'i Press |
| Format: | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages: | 246 |
| Release Date: | 31 December 2025 |
| Weight: | 474g |
| Dimensions: | 152mm x 229mm |
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Critics Review
The idea of certain places in the world, typically remote or island spaces, operating as ‘natural laboratories’ is now a staple in the historiography of science. Studies of these places typically demonstrate that notions of geographical spaces functioning as laboratories are historically constructed, often rooted in imperial or other geopolitical frameworks. Thus follows the narrative of Adrian Young’s The Myth of the Natural Laboratory: Science, Empire, Their Derangements on Pitcairn and Norfolk Islands, a fascinating study of the history of human sciences on the remote and storied Pitcairn and Norfolk Islands in the nineteenth through twentieth centuries… . This engaging book will be a welcome addition to the bookshelves of anyone interested in how knowledge and power are mutually constituted, particularly in modern imperial settings.–Daniella McCahey, Texas Tech University “H-Net (August 2026)”
Adrian Young
Adrian Young is a historian of Europe and the world and an assistant professor at Denison University, with a longstanding interest in the history of knowledge-making and colonialism.
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