"Odd Man Out: was Joseph Hooker an Evolutionary Naturalist?" (original) (raw)

A Life More Ordinary: The Dull Life but Interesting Times of Joseph Dalton Hooker

Journal of The History of Biology

The life of Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817–1911) provides an invaluable lens through which to view mid-Victorian science. A biographical approach makes it clear that some well-established narratives about this period need revising. For example, Hooker’s career cannot be considered an example of the professionalisation of the sciences, given the doubtful respectability of being paid to do science and his reliance on unpaid collectors with pretensions to equal scientific and/or social status. Nor was Hooker’s response to Darwin’s theories either straightforward or contradictory; it only makes sense as carefully crafted equivocation when seen in the context of his life and career. However, the importance of Hooker’s life is ultimately its typicality; what was true of Hooker was true of many other Victorian men of science.

Richard Hooker as Political Naturalist

The Historical Journal, 2019

Richard Hooker's understanding of political society has engendered significant debate. Does he hold that society is natural, in keeping with his commitment to aspects of Aristotelianism? Or does he believe that society is conventional, leading somehow to a social contractarian conception of society? My contention is that he is a political naturalist, though his naturalism is tempered by his Augustinian theological anthropology. Hooker emphasizes human sin in his account of the nature and purpose of civil government, and gives humankind agency in the establishment of society. But, ultimately, he considers political life to be natural to the human condition. In this way, Hooker navigates a via media between Aristotelian naturalism and conventionalism. View article here: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/historical-journal/article/richard-hooker-as-political-naturalist/3690717C0C09D6BD85A51CC93B59E715/share/c2c46c839a50f3c15949050c9f8785c96a3beb1e

Joseph Hooker: a philosophical botanist

Journal of Biosciences, 2008

The nineteenth-century British botanist, Joseph Dalton Hooker, was one of the people whose career became a model for that of the modern, professional scientist. However, he preferred to refer to himself as a philosophical botanist, rather than a professional. This paper explores the reasons for this choice, and analyses Hooker’s imperial approach to plant classification, the consequences of which are still with us.

Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker in the Kew Archive

Curtis's Botanical Magazine, 2017

Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker was born in Halesworth, Suffolk in 1917. The second son of Sir William Jackson Hooker, Joseph Hooker would, throughout the course of his life, become one of the most famous and lauded scientists of his day. At its pinnacle, Joseph Hooker's career would see him hold the post of Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew for 20 years (1865–1885), and be the first botanist after Joseph Banks to be elected President of the Royal Society between 1873 and 1878. His archives and letters, which are described here, are held in the Library, Art and Archives at Kew.