Science and colonialism in a French Navy journal

Natural history in the Annales maritimes et coloniales at the time of the Bourbon Restoration (1814-1830)

Abstract

This article analyses how natural history was addressed in the pages of the French Navy journal Annales maritimes et coloniales, which was edited by the Ministry of the Navy and Colonies, in France, from the beginning of the French Restauration onwards. It highlights communication between French navy and the French field of natural history, as well as the very participation of the French navy in this field, mainly through colonial agriculture guidelines, evaluation of scientific expeditions and the publishing of material from French port regions and colonial territories. From this perspective, the article allows us to criticize interpretations which overemphasize opposition between civilians and naval officers in regard to natural history, as well as opposition between metropolitan spaces and colonial ones.