such asHooker towards remuneration. ambivalentthe attitude of Victorian scientists are of fields alegacy insome modern salaries low relatively not forscience, pay.the Perhaps impression that heworked purely for love the of sional scientist, but hewasat pains to give the botany.”to solely time my devote home return my on to “My able and hope wishis to be mostearnest ship the on Returning from an expedition to ‘philosophical’ rather than ‘paid’ science. desire to join scientific the élite and practise from science. evolutionist, Hooker hisliving hadto earn lishment. Unlike independently the wealthy trayed as awhiskered gentleman of the estab- HookerAsia. Like Darwin, isusually por- Wallace hadsent insoutheast from field the Wallace’ssel paper on natural selection,which On the Origin of Species jointneer the reading of Darwin’s abstract of of London, to engi- hehelped Society Linnean extraordinary.seem progressscientific simple, too looks and leaps theories advanced; without background, this contextthe for understanding necessary how provides science of practice the that is agree, generated.they His contention, with which I tion, rather than an analysis of the theories of how scientists worked during this transi- Jim Endersby provides arefreshing record practised activity an by from aristocrats to one paid for by governments. time this at switched Kew inLondon. tion now Royal calledthe Gardens Botanic at royal pleasure park into scientific the institu- a transformed Hooker, who Dalton Joseph nineteenth century. other naturalistsber worked who mid- inthe Species of Origin the of anniversary 150th hispublicationthe tions for Charles Darwin’s bicentenary and As we approach nextyear’s frenzy of from beingahobby ofaristocrats toaprofession paidfor by governments. A biography ofbotanistJosephDalton Hooker illustrates how science switched inthenineteenthcentury Command andcontrol Vol 453 $35, £18 University ofChicago Press: 2008.400pp. by JimEndersby Practices ofVictorian Science Imperial Nature: JosephHooker andthe Hooker epitomizes the advent of the profes- the of advent the epitomizes Hooker AtHooker of Darwin. friend wasaclose the natural history, particularly Science, Hooker managed Kew Gardens, was which | 5 June2008 Erebus

Endersby describes Hooker’sEndersby describes , Hooker wrote to hisfather: , it isimportant to remem- Imperial Nature Imperial alongside Rus- Alfred

Antarctica Antarctica chronicles

celebra- On a liar. Gladstone commented on Hooker’s apologize to Ayrton for insinuating hewas because itbecause wasaccessible to anyone, including medicine. Botany wasnot seriously taken and geology, chemistry sciences, but above low-status disciplines, below physical the nist. Botany and natural were history then additionalhad the burden of abota- being today might agree. toparliamentsA scientist giving evidence accustomed to enter inour sturdy conflicts”. have agreat susceptibility” and are “not behaviour, that “scientific observing men … was owed aliving by nation. the less man working for greater the who good, published in it. Hooker’s defended himinletters friends against fought Hooker Kew, but at rules ment Gladstone’s government. inprime minister William civilthe service and Acton Smee Ayrton, essentially of head caused style this astand-off Hooker between asaprivateservice, fiefdom. In early the 1870s, government funded and part of the UK civil Joseph Hooker (right)andCharlesLyell (standing) discussedevolutionary theorywithDarwin (left). to impose civil-service hiring and procure-to impose civil-service In to join trying thescientific élite, Hooker Hooker backed down and wasforced to Nature , describing himasaself-

Ayrton attempted attempted Ayrton BOOKS &ARTS seems extraordinary,seems but collectors the with its collections. That wasaccepted this be described only at Kew, after comparison plant from species area their could —species rimanded those who dared to describe new sionally showed Hooker independence. rep- became global. that the collection of plants dried at Kew from New and Zealand Australia, ensuring exchanged and books equipment for plants sent toKew but operated system.He abarter out hiscareer. Hooker rarely paid for material respondents and collectors for Kew through- menhemetonthe histravels remained cor- plants inAntarctica and India, and some of by’s As book. ayoung man, Hooker collected tors are most fascinating the of part Enders- of collectors. man could generate —heneededan army details. But he needed more data than one laid out rather general rules than describing ‘philosophical botany’, of ascience plants that ized that to make hisname, hemust invent a gardening and horticulture. Hooker real- ally demanding. It associated wasalso with women, and wasnot considered intellectu- Hooker’s relationships with these collec- these with Hooker’s relationships

Collectors, however, occa- 721

EVSTAFIEFF; DOWN HOUSE, KENT, UK/BRIDGEMAN ART LIBRARY L. LIWANAG/AFP/GETTY IMAGES NATURAL HIST. MUS., LONDON have average not the grabbed hedeploredDarwin, Like aspecies. define to person sole the vested interest inbeing the future we will see constantly different time?Perhaps this in 722 developed the in scarcity food of re-establishment prices, the high out supply. smoothing in governance good glut and famine, and role the of ment of Bible the of talks years of of 1973–75.Even OldTesta- the worldtimes wasthe crisis food history. inrecent Themostsevere concerns. End of Food The End of Oil from book hisearlier best-selling topic of day. the Following on Vietnam, scarcity food isthe Hong Kong in and rice of buying from Haiti to and Egypt panic- surelycrisis has.With riots food citizen’s attention, world the food Suddenly, topic the ishot. ispublished. just headlines ashisbook the a complex and topic, obscure only it to hit see prescient. He can work for years researching anSometimes author gets lucky, or istruly Staving offtheglobalfood crisis such India, assouthern rather than specific recorded broad regions of sample origin, also defined localities. Collectors of the time maintained control of definitions. the He concept,species it so wasimportant that he broad a on depended distribution plant of right. Hooker’s theories own intheir species variants asdescribed known assplitters, who ‘species-mongers’, today science. new by being involved inthe gifts: they earned status needed Hooker and his OPINION 416 pp. $26/£12.99 Houghton Mifflin/Bloomsbury:2008. by Paul Roberts The EndofFood Are our worries about food tend to in recur crises Food prices supermarket high If hot. is Food Hooker hadastrong taps into timely these , Paul Roberts’s Hooker’s drawing ofared alga, The near president GloriaMacapagal-Arroyo’s palace inthePhilippinesApril. protest oftheGabrielapoliticalparty Supporters againstrisingfood prices grow corn for ethanol to our fuel cars? increasing and affluence, more to land used spreadties, the of meat-intensive dietswith world tradeto source cheapest the commodi- lowerperpetually prices, greater reliance on the trends that Roberts documents so well, of that feed it. Will there acontinuation be of human population and natural the resources tension the will lessen agrowing between hunger. Orperhaps atechnological solution world after decadesof surplus, and widespread furore of of aset systematists 1980s,when the one wasinvolved who pattern-cladistics inthe creations”. sounds familiar Thisview to any- that beingactual intheir believer guidethe and methods followthe same principles the “employ must evolutionist the that noting tice, Delesseria . affected botany inprac- do the reversedo the using coordinates. Today we that evolutionary theory win but didnot think Dar- supported Hooker wasmorestory complex. ersby shows that the natural End- selection. by evolution of theory reluctant convert to the accounts, Hooker wasa georeferencing. According to historic were of ‘anti-evolution’. being accused Evo- Sandra Knapp communities. with our vibrant, diverse and more equitable central control could never happen today, cultures. Onehopes that Hooker’s attempt at comes from many sources and through many aretant, on they which based evidence the reminds us that although theories are impor- concentrating on practice, nineteenth-century sound today. science By evolution ismore satisfying. tended, but studying diversity light inthe of entails asHooker can theory-free, be con- logical diversity. Study of what that diversity robust explanation for generation the of bio- lution by natural remains selection most the for everyone else.”for everyone system willhave extraordinary ramifications discrete failure; acollapse of one part of the isnolongerwarns, “There possibility the of of forests and farmland.” Consequently, he losing and more pesticides, fertilizers acres drawing down more water tables, using more depletinggrier), more soil organic matter, “We are already growing fatter (and hun- offers a sobering scenario of a ‘meltdown’: driven, isheading for acataclysm. Roberts system, asitfood iscurrently structured and Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK. ofBotany,Department The Natural History It issurprising how familiar debates the of The End of Food Roberts’s answers are clear. Theglobal tem-wide collapse isinevitable. push up demand. Obesity is the push isthe up demand. Obesity to ‘supersize’ portions offer to revolution toatendency hasled supply of products. new Theretail of cheap inputs and continual createsindustry aneedfor sources The industrialization of food the bly out of balance. driven entire the systemirrevoca- ernization demand have of dietary of supply our food and west- the argues thatRoberts globalization new. not But is necessity biological if it were copper or steel —and asa processed, even speculated on as nomic commodity —produced, tension asan between food eco- not changed sincewe evolved. This biological needs system, althoughfood our basic economic forces drive world the by starts recognizingRoberts that isaplanttaxonomist inthe The result isalistof woes. NATURE makes the case that sys- | Vol 453

for nutrition have Imperial Nature Imperial | 5 June2008 ■