Plants & Knowledge

A conference to be held in Exeter on May 9-10 2008 In Conference Room 1, Xfi Centre, Streatham Court

The science of Botany has developed in astonishing ways in the West (through such pioneers as Theophrastus and Linnaeus) and in other cultures; but the human understanding and use of plants has extended even more widely, in such areas as food, medicine and manufacturing, as well as in art, literature and general interest. Physic or medicinal gardens for royalty have during the 19th and 20th centuries been extended to all, in the form of parks and botanical gardens such as the Paris Jardin des Plantes or the Gardens at Kew. Amateur interest in plants as part of the natural world or the garden is enormous, and is addressed by major projects such as the Eden Project in Cornwall. Book plates of plants identify the species for the specialist, but they are also a thing of information and beauty for the amateur, helping to disseminate botany more widely.

The aim of this conference is to explore the dissemination of knowledge about plants outside the strict academic boundaries of Botany. Botany has benefitted from the journeys of Alexander the Great to the East, of the Europeans to the Americas and the Far East; but so have many others. Pepper, chocolate and coffee shape our daily lives, giving them meaning as well as nutrition. How is knowledge of the plants and their products transferred? How, for example, have medical authors and illiterate healers transmitted their knowledge of plants? How have experts written about other properties of plants, their scents and colours? How have different cultures written about the erotic properties of plants? How have plants been represented in art and literature?

The conference is confined to the plants of the Mediterranean, whether native or introduced species.

Proposed speakers:

Suzanne Amigues (Montpellier): popular remedies in Theophrastus (not attending in person but will supply a paper for circulation)
Rosie Atkins (Chelsea Physic Garden): subject to be confirmed
Siam Bhayro (Exeter): Galen and the Syriac tradition
Barbara Boeck (Madrid): The plants of the Babylonian tablets
Andrew Dalby (independent scholar): food plants in antiquity
Grainne Grant (Exeter): Perfume Plants in Antiquity
Sandy Knapp (Natural History Museum): The solanum family online
Mary Orr (Southampton): The Jardin des Plantes and the Women of Paris
Anna Pavord: The Search for Order: pre-Linnaean pioneers
Caroline Petit (Manchester): Galen on Simples
Antoine Pietrobelli (Paris) : Galen on Hippocrates on barley ptisane.
Dawn Sanders (freelance) : Children and plants : Pokemon and Harry Potter
Francesca Stavrokopoulou (Exeter): The Tree of Knowledge
Alain Touwaide (Smithsonian): Dioscorides
John Wilkins (Exeter): an English version of Galen on Simples

Provisional schedule

Friday 9th May

Chair Prof Mark Jackson, Centre for Medical History, Exeter

9.00 Welcome: Lynette Mitchell, Director of Mediterranean Studies
9.05-9.30 John Wilkins Introduction, and Galen
9.30-10.15 Caroline Petit : Galen
10.15-11 Antoine Pietrobelli : ptisane (barley preparations)
11-11.30 Coffee
11.30-12.15 Alain Touwaide : Dioscorides
12.15-1 Siam Bahyro : Galen into Syriac
1-2 lunch

Chair Prof Mark Geller, University College London

2-2.45 Barbara Boeck : Babylonian tablets
2.45-3.30 Francesca Stavrakopoulou : Tree of Knowledge
3.30-4 Tea
4-4.45 Grainne Grant: perfume plants
4.45-5.30 Andrew Dalby: Geoponica
5.45 Campus tour with Stephen Scarr

Saturday 10th May

Chair: Professor Alex Walsham (Exeter)

9-9.45 Anna Pavord: order before Linnaeus
9.45-10.30 Sandy Knapp: solanums
10.30-11 Coffee
11-11.45 Rosie Atkins: Chelsea Physic Garden
11.45-12.30 Costanza Ferrini: olives
12.30-1.30 lunch

Chair Dr Lynette Mitchell, Director of Mediterranean Studies

1.30-2.15 Mary Orr: Jardin des Plantes
2.15-3 Eden Project
3-3.30 Tea
3.30-4.15 Dawn Sanders: Pokemon
4.15-5.15 John Lanyon and Lorraine Colebrook: Knightshayes
5.30 Trip to Knightshayes with John Lanyon and Lorraine Colebrook, as described above (transport by private car: I hope those who have them will give lifts)