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SUMMARY:Georg Joseph Kamel (1661–1706): natural knowledge in transit bet
 ween the Philippines and Europe - Sebestian Kroupa (Department of History 
 and Philosophy of Science)
DTSTART:20190211T130000Z
DTEND:20190211T140000Z
UID:TALK117718@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Laura Brassington
DESCRIPTION:When stationed in Manila at the turn of the 18th century\, the
  Jesuit pharmacist Georg Joseph Kamel found himself engaged in encounters 
 between European and local traditions of knowledge. Based on his local exp
 erience\, he produced extensive treatises of Philippine flora\, which were
  later printed in Europe. Focusing on the practices involved in Kamel's kn
 owledge production\, this paper will explore Kamel's strategies in transla
 ting Philippine nature from local to European contexts. I will open with a
 n examination of Kamel's plant classification system\, which reveals categ
 ories of knowledge inspired by Filipino indigenous traditions and shows en
 tanglements between European science and local exigencies. However\, upon 
 arrival in Europe\, these hybrid categories found little understanding amo
 ng sedentary European naturalists and became lost in translation. Kamel wa
 s more successful in his attempts to transplant Philippine medicinal herbs
 . Through building associations with plants described by canonical authors
  of the Old World\, Kamel sought to 'Galenise' Philippine medicinal plants
  – that is\, to incorporate them into the Galenic medical tradition. In 
 this manner\, Kamel endowed plants with clear theoretical foundations comp
 rehensible to European experts and customers and paved the way for their d
 eployment on both local and global scales and markets.
LOCATION:Seminar Room 1\, Department of History and Philosophy of Science
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