Society for the History of Natural History

Society for the History of Natural History
Name	Society for the History of Natural History
Formation	20th century
Type	Learned society
Headquarters	United Kingdom
Language	English
Leader title	President

Contents

Society for the History of Natural History The Society for the History of Natural History is a learned society focused on the study of botanical, zoological, geological, and environmental heritage. It connects scholars working on figures such as Carl Linnaeus, Charles Darwin, Alfred Russel Wallace, Joseph Banks and institutions like the Natural History Museum, London, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Smithsonian Institution, British Museum and Royal Society. The Society engages with archival and material culture preserved at repositories including the Natural History Museum, Oxford, Linnean Society of London, Kew Gardens Herbarium, Biodiversity Heritage Library and various university collections.

History

The Society traces intellectual roots to networks active during the eras of Age of Enlightenment, Victorian era, and the scientific communities around figures such as Erasmus Darwin, Alexander von Humboldt, Georges Cuvier and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck. Its formal establishment was influenced by scholarly trends exemplified by journals like Annals and Magazine of Natural History, museums such as the British Museum (Natural History), and academic centers including University of Oxford, University of Cambridge and University College London. Over time the Society has engaged with historiographical debates represented by researchers on Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae, the expeditions of James Cook and Joseph Hooker, and the correspondence networks of Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace. The Society’s archival collaborations extend to repositories such as the Bodleian Library, Cambridge University Library, Natural History Museum Library and international partners at the Smithsonian Institution Libraries and the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle.

The Society’s mission emphasizes historical scholarship on natural history across the histories of botany, zoology, paleontology, geology and applied practices tied to figures like Gregor Mendel, Thomas Henry Huxley, Richard Owen and Mary Anning. Objectives include promoting research into collections associated with explorers such as Alexander von Humboldt, Joseph Banks, Francis Drake and David Attenborough's advocacy for natural history. The Society fosters critical study of texts like Voyage of the Beagle, Systema Naturae, On the Origin of Species and archival materials from institutions such as the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the Natural History Museum, London. It also supports dialogues concerning colonial-era fieldwork involving expeditions like those of James Cook and HMS Beagle and museum practices found at the Natural History Museum, London and Smithsonian Institution.

Membership comprises academics, curators, librarians and independent scholars affiliated with universities such as University of Edinburgh, University of Manchester, University of Glasgow and museums like the Natural History Museum, London, Field Museum and American Museum of Natural History. Governance typically mirrors structures seen in societies such as the Royal Society and the Linnean Society of London with officers including a President, Secretary and Treasurer, and committees reflecting expertise comparable to heads at Kew Gardens and departmental leads at Natural History Museum, Oxford. The Society collaborates with projects hosted by the Biodiversity Heritage Library, the Bodleian Library and research centres at the Natural History Museum, London and Smithsonian Institution.

The Society publishes newsletters and journals analogous to the Journal of the History of Biology and produces monographs on historical figures such as Carl Linnaeus, Charles Darwin, Alfred Russel Wallace, Joseph Banks and Mary Anning. Its activities include curating exhibitions in partnership with institutions like the Natural History Museum, London, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, British Library and regional museums including the National Museum of Scotland and the Natural History Museum, Oxford. It supports cataloguing projects similar to initiatives by the Biodiversity Heritage Library and digitisation efforts akin to those at the Smithsonian Institution Libraries and the British Library. The Society organizes lecture series featuring speakers from universities such as University College London, King's College London and University of Cambridge and collaborates on edited volumes with presses comparable to Cambridge University Press and Oxford University Press.

The Society convenes annual conferences and specialist symposia with themes connecting to expeditions like Voyage of the Beagle, historiography surrounding On the Origin of Species, and collection histories linked to Joseph Hooker and Joseph Banks. Meetings take place at venues including the Natural History Museum, London, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, university campuses such as University of Oxford and University of Cambridge, and international sites allied with the Smithsonian Institution and the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle. Conference programs frequently feature paper sessions on archival sources from the Bodleian Library, specimen studies tied to the Kew Herbarium, and public outreach modeled on exhibitions at the Royal Society and British Museum.

The Society administers small grants, fellowships and prizes to support research comparable to funding streams from the British Academy, Wellcome Trust, Leverhulme Trust and project grants like those hosted by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. Awards recognise scholarship on figures including Charles Darwin, Carl Linnaeus, Alfred Russel Wallace and curatorial work at institutions such as Natural History Museum, London and Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Grant schemes fund archival visits to collections at the Bodleian Library, Cambridge University Library, Natural History Museum Library and international archives like the Smithsonian Institution Archives and the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle.

Category:Learned societies