PLANTS & KNOWLEDGE
A conference to be held in Exeter on May 9-10 2008, sponsored by the Centre for Mediterranean Studies and the Department of Classics & Ancient History in Exeter and the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, and supported by the Wellcome Trust
Organisers: John Wilkins (Classics, Exeter), Grainne Grant (Classics, Exeter), Alain Touwaide (Smithsonian, Washington)
In Conference Room 1, Xfi Centre, Streatham Court
Programme and practical details are listed at the end of this document
The science of Botany has developed in astonishing ways in the West (through such pioneers as Theophrastus and Linnaeus) and in other
cultures; but the human understanding and use of plants has extended even more widely, in such areas as food, medicine and manufacturing, as well as
in art, literature and general interest. Physic or medicinal gardens for royalty have during the 19th and 20th centuries been extended to all, in
the form of parks and botanical gardens such as the Paris Jardin des Plantes or the Gardens at Kew. Amateur interest in plants as part of the
natural world or the garden is enormous, and is addressed by major projects such as the Eden Project in Cornwall. Book plates of plants identify the species for the specialist, but they are also a thing of information and beauty for the amateur, helping to disseminate botany more widely.
The aim of this conference is to explore the dissemination of knowledge about plants outside the strict academic boundaries of Botany. Botany has
benefited from the journeys of Alexander the Great to the East, of the Europeans to the Americas and the Far East; but so have many others.
Pepper, chocolate and coffee shape our daily lives, giving them meaning as well as nutrition. How is knowledge of the plants and their products
transferred? How, for example, have medical authors and illiterate healers transmitted their knowledge of plants? How have experts written about
other properties of plants, their scents and colours? How have plants been represented in art and literature?
The conference is confined to the plants of the Mediterranean, whether native or introduced species.
On Friday evening there will be a tour (45 mins long) of the plants on the Exeter campus, guided by Stephen Scarr who was Head Gardener for 27 years. Please bring coats and brollies just in case.
On Saturday evening there will be a visit to Knightshayes Gardens with John Lanyon and Lorraine Colebrook to see a fully working kitchen garden and the Natural Trust’s plant conservation programme. We plan to travel by private car (I hope those who have them will share). Drivers should park in the visitor car park at Knightshayes, from which the visit will start.
Proposed speakers
Suzanne Amigues (Montpellier): popular remedies in Theophrastus (not attending in person but will supply a paper for circulation)
Rosie Atkins (Chelsea Physic Garden): Chelsea Physic Garden: London’s oldest
outdoor classroom
Siam Bhayro (Exeter): Galen and the Syriac tradition
Barbara Boeck (Madrid): The plants of the Babylonian tablets
Lorraine Colebrook Knightshayes Garden in Devon
Andrew Dalby (independent scholar): food plants in antiquity: the Geoponica
A speaker from the Eden Project
Costanza Ferrini (Rome): olives
Grainne Grant (Exeter): Perfume Plants in Antiquity
Sandy Knapp (Natural History Museum): The solanum family online
John Lanyon Knightshayes Garden in Devon
Mary Orr (Southampton): The Jardin des Plantes and the Women of Paris
Anna Pavord: The Search for Order: pre-Linnaean pioneers
Caroline Petit (Manchester): Galen on Simples
Antoine Pietrobelli (Paris): Polemics on ptisane in Antiquity and beyond.
Dawn Sanders (freelance): Children and plants : Pokemon and Harry Potter
Francesca Stavrakopoulou (Exeter): The Tree of Knowledge
Alain Touwaide (Smithsonian): Dioscorides
John Wilkins (Exeter): an English version of Galen on Simples
All are welcome. If you would like to attend the conference, please email J.M.Wilkins AT exeter.ac.uk as soon as possible.
If you plan to go on the trip to Knightshayes, please email John Wilkins
There is no conference fee. If you want lunch and are not a speaker or chair, then the cost is £8.50. If you would like to join the speakers for dinner on May 9th at St Olave’s in Mary Arches St, the cost is £19.75.
Please book lunches and dinner through John Wilkins no later than March 31st 2008.
A conference to be held in Exeter on May 9-10 2008, sponsored by the Centre for Mediterranean Studies and the Department of Classics & Ancient History in Exeter and the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, and supported by the Wellcome Trust
Organisers: John Wilkins (Classics, Exeter), Grainne Grant (Classics, Exeter), Alain Touwaide (Smithsonian, Washington)
In Conference Room 1, Xfi Centre, Streatham Court
Programme and practical details are listed at the end of this document
The science of Botany has developed in astonishing ways in the West (through such pioneers as Theophrastus and Linnaeus) and in other
cultures; but the human understanding and use of plants has extended even more widely, in such areas as food, medicine and manufacturing, as well as
in art, literature and general interest. Physic or medicinal gardens for royalty have during the 19th and 20th centuries been extended to all, in
the form of parks and botanical gardens such as the Paris Jardin des Plantes or the Gardens at Kew. Amateur interest in plants as part of the
natural world or the garden is enormous, and is addressed by major projects such as the Eden Project in Cornwall. Book plates of plants identify the species for the specialist, but they are also a thing of information and beauty for the amateur, helping to disseminate botany more widely.
The aim of this conference is to explore the dissemination of knowledge about plants outside the strict academic boundaries of Botany. Botany has
benefited from the journeys of Alexander the Great to the East, of the Europeans to the Americas and the Far East; but so have many others.
Pepper, chocolate and coffee shape our daily lives, giving them meaning as well as nutrition. How is knowledge of the plants and their products
transferred? How, for example, have medical authors and illiterate healers transmitted their knowledge of plants? How have experts written about
other properties of plants, their scents and colours? How have plants been represented in art and literature?
The conference is confined to the plants of the Mediterranean, whether native or introduced species.
On Friday evening there will be a tour (45 mins long) of the plants on the Exeter campus, guided by Stephen Scarr who was Head Gardener for 27 years. Please bring coats and brollies just in case.
On Saturday evening there will be a visit to Knightshayes Gardens with John Lanyon and Lorraine Colebrook to see a fully working kitchen garden and the Natural Trust’s plant conservation programme. We plan to travel by private car (I hope those who have them will share). Drivers should park in the visitor car park at Knightshayes, from which the visit will start.
Proposed speakers
Suzanne Amigues (Montpellier): popular remedies in Theophrastus (not attending in person but will supply a paper for circulation)
Rosie Atkins (Chelsea Physic Garden): Chelsea Physic Garden: London’s oldest
outdoor classroom
Siam Bhayro (Exeter): Galen and the Syriac tradition
Barbara Boeck (Madrid): The plants of the Babylonian tablets
Lorraine Colebrook Knightshayes Garden in Devon
Andrew Dalby (independent scholar): food plants in antiquity: the Geoponica
A speaker from the Eden Project
Costanza Ferrini (Rome): olives
Grainne Grant (Exeter): Perfume Plants in Antiquity
Sandy Knapp (Natural History Museum): The solanum family online
John Lanyon Knightshayes Garden in Devon
Mary Orr (Southampton): The Jardin des Plantes and the Women of Paris
Anna Pavord: The Search for Order: pre-Linnaean pioneers
Caroline Petit (Manchester): Galen on Simples
Antoine Pietrobelli (Paris): Polemics on ptisane in Antiquity and beyond.
Dawn Sanders (freelance): Children and plants : Pokemon and Harry Potter
Francesca Stavrakopoulou (Exeter): The Tree of Knowledge
Alain Touwaide (Smithsonian): Dioscorides
John Wilkins (Exeter): an English version of Galen on Simples
All are welcome. If you would like to attend the conference, please email J.M.Wilkins AT exeter.ac.uk as soon as possible.
If you plan to go on the trip to Knightshayes, please email John Wilkins
There is no conference fee. If you want lunch and are not a speaker or chair, then the cost is £8.50. If you would like to join the speakers for dinner on May 9th at St Olave’s in Mary Arches St, the cost is £19.75.
Please book lunches and dinner through John Wilkins no later than March 31st 2008.