Acclimatizing the world: A history of the paradigmatic colonial science

This paper examines the institutions, personages, and theories that informe d acclimatization activities in nineteenth-century France, England, and the two colonies of Algeria and Australia. Treating acclimatization as a scien tific concept and activity, the essay begins with the conditions of its eme rgence in Enlightenment France. Subsequent sections trace the growth of the acclimatization movement and its translation to the British context, and c onsider reasons for its decline in the last third of the nineteenth century . Efforts are made to show why many perceived acclimatization to be the par adigmatic colonial science with applications as diverse as agriculture, set tlement schemes, field sports, and human health. Emphasis falls on the Fren ch and British cultural spheres, as these were the dual epicenters of both modem colonialism and organized acclimatization activity.