Description

Book Synopsis
The Alchemy of Empire unravels the non-European origins of Enlightenment science. Focusing on the abject materials of empire-building, this study traces the genealogies of substances like mud, mortar, ice, and paper, and forms of knowledge like inoculation, arguing that East India Company employees deployed the paradigm of alchemy in order to make sense of the new worlds they confronted.

Trade Review
"An intriguing book that brings together an array of literary and non-literary texts dealing with eighteenth-century British response to South Asian techne. Sudan is a significant voice in global eighteenth-century studies as well as a leading critic of Anglo-Indian Relations." -- -Robert Markley University of Illinois

Table of Contents
Introduction: Mud, Mortar, and Empire 1. The Alchemy of Empire 2. Mortar and the Making of Madras 3. Ice and the Production of British Climate 4. Inoculation and the Limits of British Imperialism 5. "Plaisters," Paper, and the Labor of Letters Conclusion Notes Works Cited

The Alchemy of Empire

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    A Paperback / softback by Rajani Sudan

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      Publisher: Fordham University Press
      Publication Date: 01/06/2016
      ISBN13: 9780823270682, 978-0823270682
      ISBN10: 0823270688
      Also in:
      Colonialism and imperialism

      Description

      Book Synopsis
      The Alchemy of Empire unravels the non-European origins of Enlightenment science. Focusing on the abject materials of empire-building, this study traces the genealogies of substances like mud, mortar, ice, and paper, and forms of knowledge like inoculation, arguing that East India Company employees deployed the paradigm of alchemy in order to make sense of the new worlds they confronted.

      Trade Review
      "An intriguing book that brings together an array of literary and non-literary texts dealing with eighteenth-century British response to South Asian techne. Sudan is a significant voice in global eighteenth-century studies as well as a leading critic of Anglo-Indian Relations." -- -Robert Markley University of Illinois

      Table of Contents
      Introduction: Mud, Mortar, and Empire 1. The Alchemy of Empire 2. Mortar and the Making of Madras 3. Ice and the Production of British Climate 4. Inoculation and the Limits of British Imperialism 5. "Plaisters," Paper, and the Labor of Letters Conclusion Notes Works Cited

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