Agricultural research in Britain, 1850–1914: Failure, success and development

Brassley, Paul

doi:10.1080/00033799500200351

Cited by 11 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 10 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This initiative provided long-term, systematic data for interdisciplinary research on agricultural, ecological and environmental problems. Brassley [5] showed clearly that for much of the 19th century before 1890, agricultural science in Britain received little government support. This was a big contrast with government funding and number of agricultural scientists in Germany and the USA.…”

Section: The History Of Agricultural Research Education and Extensionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Comprehensive analyses of the developments in France and the UK from 1850 onwards were presented by Castonguay [4] and Brassley [5], respectively. In England, the private initiative of one person, Sir John Lawes, led in 1843 to the establishment of the world's oldest agricultural research institute: Rothamsted Experimental Station at Harpenden [6].…”

Section: The History Of Agricultural Research Education and Extensionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Adaptation of knowledge systems to changes in agriculture and society: The case of the Netherlands

Spiertz

Kropff

2011

NJAS: Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

a b s t r a c tAgricultural sciences developed in Europe from the middle of the 19th century onwards. In the Netherlands, a national agricultural research and education system was established in 1876. Initially, the emphasis was strongly on education and applied research. The higher professional school for teaching agriculture, horticulture and forestry at Wageningen was admitted the status of technical university ('Hoogeschool') in 1918. Complementary to the university a wide array of discipline-oriented research institutes and commodity-oriented research stations were founded; especially after World War II. Since the 1980s, the system had to face new challenges and adapt to a change in societal needs and policies. A radical restructuring of the old diverse system into one organization for research and education, Wageningen University and Research Centre, took place in 1998. In this paper the developments in agricultural research and education in the Netherlands will be presented in a historic context and the recent evolutions in agriculture-based research and knowledge systems are evaluated. It is concluded that societal needs, scientific discoveries, and public and private funding are the driving forces behind change. However, most important for the quality and vigour of knowledge centres is the ability to adapt to change.

show abstract

Section: The History Of Agricultural Research Education and Extensionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: The History Of Agricultural Research Education and Extensionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adaptation of knowledge systems to changes in agriculture and society: The case of the Netherlands

Spiertz

Kropff

2011

NJAS: Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The impact of the 1910 establishment of the Development Commission on agricultural research in Britain has been readily acknowledged by historians (Berry, 2014a;Brassley, 1995;Charnley, 2011;Kraft, 2004;Olby, 1991;Smith, 1998). While primarily focused on public works such as road reconstruction and harbour drainage, some funds were allocated to encourage the application of scientific knowledge to agricultural problems.…”

Section: -1913: a University Farmmentioning

confidence: 99%

James Cossar Ewart and the Origins of the Animal Breeding Research Department in Edinburgh, 1895–1920

Button

2017

J Hist Biol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. In 1919 the Animal Breeding Research Department was established inEdinburgh. This Department, later renamed the Institute of Animal Genetics, forged an international reputation, eventually becoming the centrepiece of a cluster of new genetics research units and institutions in Edinburgh after the Second World War. Yet despite its significance for institutionalising animal genetics research in the UK, the origins and development of the Department have not received as much scholarly attention as its importance warrants. This paper sheds new light on Edinburgh's place in early British genetics by drawing upon recently catalogued archival sources including the papers of James Cossar Ewart, Regius Professor of Natural History at the University of Edinburgh between 1882 and 1927. Although presently a marginal figure in genetics historiography, Ewart established two sites for experimental animal breeding work between 1895 and 1911 and played a central role in the founding of Britain's first genetics lectureship, also in 1911. These early efforts helped to secure government funding in 1913. However, a combination of the First World War, bureaucratic problems and Ewart's personal ambitions delayed the creation of the Department and the appointment of its director by another six years. This paper charts the institutionalisation of animal breeding and genetics research in Edinburgh within the wider contexts of British genetics and agriculture in the early twentieth century.

show abstract

“…The task would, therefore, require an encyclopaedic knowledge. Unlike the nineteenth century, when agricultural research resorted mainly to the tools of chemistry (Brassley 1995), since the beginning of the twentieth century the proliferation of the branches of agricultural science has reshaped the discipline and its experimental criteria. Molecular biology has offered the opportunity to sequence the DNA of plants and animals, biotechnologies have made possible complex manipulations of the genome, and computing and information technologies have provided instruments for storing and sharing data.…”

Section: Charting the History Of Agricultural Experiments 233mentioning

confidence: 99%

Charting the history of agricultural experiments

Parolini

2015

HPLS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Agricultural experimentation is a world in constant evolution, spanning multiple scientific domains and affecting society at large. Even though the questions underpinning agricultural experiments remain largely the same, the instruments and practices for answering them have changed constantly during the twentieth century with the advent of new disciplines like molecular biology, genomics, statistics, and computing. Charting this evolving reality requires a mapping of the affinities and antinomies at work within the realm of agricultural research, and a consideration of the practices, tools and social and political structures in which agricultural experiments are grounded. Three main questions will be addressed to provide an overview of the complex world of agricultural research investigated by the special issue: What is an agricultural experiment? Who is an experimenter in agriculture? Where do agricultural experiments take place? It will become apparent that agricultural experiments have a wide relevance for human development as they touch upon concerns related to human health and nutrition, contribute to policy discussions, and can affect the social and political structures in which farming is embedded.

show abstract

Agricultural research in Britain, 1850–1914: Failure, success and development

Cited by 11 publications

References 10 publications

Adaptation of knowledge systems to changes in agriculture and society: The case of the Netherlands

Adaptation of knowledge systems to changes in agriculture and society: The case of the Netherlands

James Cossar Ewart and the Origins of the Animal Breeding Research Department in Edinburgh, 1895–1920

Charting the history of agricultural experiments

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About