Take a deep dive into the history of salvage zoology, a practice that was all the rage in the late 19th century. Naturalists of the period anticipated the extinction of wild animals due to the spread of Western civilization, with practices such as farming, logging, ranching, and urban sprawl.
However, development was part and parcel to a quintessential Victorian virtue: progress, and naturalists viewed extinction as an inevitable, if regrettable, byproduct of humanity’s advance. To mitigate this, zoologists salvaged remnants of threatened species, with the goal to harvest specimens and keep them in museum collections as a permanent record of disappearing nature. This ideology had its heyday in the 1890s, eventually giving way to conservation in the early 20th century, as more and more naturalists prioritized the saving of species over the taking of animals.
About the Presenter
Dr. Brinkman is a science historian specializing in late 19th to early 20th-century natural sciences. He writes narrative accounts of events that reconstruct scientific practice – what scientists did, how they did it, and how this affected their results. He tries to practice “hands-on” history as much as possible. Likewise, he aspires to write micro-historical narratives that place the reader in the boots of the naturalist.
This program is recommended for participants ages 11–17. Cafés will be held in person at the Daily Planet Cafe and streamed live on YouTube.