Linnean Learning: Recent Episodes
Carl Linnaeus
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Lady Pleasance Smith had a sharp intellect and a wide-ranging network of family, friends and acquaintances throughout her long life. She was known for her generosity and philanthropic work. Pleasance outlived her husband James Edward Smith, founder of the Linnean Society of London, by nearly five decades, and from the time of his death in 1828 until her death in 1877 at age 103, Pleasance wrote and received a high volume of letters, many of which reveal her avid interest in the arts, humanities, sciences and the natural world.
As she was not a fellow of the society nor a botanist, it would be natural to think that with the passing of her husband that her connection to the Linnean Society would have ended, but the high volume of letters that she received indicates the complete opposite. Up into the 1860s Pleasance remained friends with the chairmen of the society and donated books, specimens and even some of her husband’s letters to the society. Being the wife of James Edward Smith afforded Pleasance the opportunity to broaden her horizons intellectually and break the mold of the commonly portrayed narrative of a domestic Victorian lady.
Writing letters was a vital part of everyday life in Victorian times. It was the best way to quickly pass on important news and conversation. Although the letters penned by her are missing, by reading through this collection consisting of over 550 surviving letters from almost 100 different correspondents, we are able to take a glimpse into the past and piece together a picture of who Lady Pleasance Smith was.
Researchers: Taylor Harwood and Kristen Wellborn Script: Taylor Harwood and Kristen Wellborn Script Editor: Ross Ziegelmeier Producer: Ross Ziegelmeier
In his new book, Jack Ashby FLS journeys through both the evolutionary history of animals, and the ways people interpret them in museums. Animals in museums are not only representatives of their entire species, but they also tell us something about the time in which they were collected. They provide windows into the past as well as data for the present.
Museums are one of the key windows we have into the natural world, but they are human inventions. In this podcast join Jack Ashby as he selects three specimens from our collections that explain mimicry, cheats and warning colours.
Author and zoologist Jack Ashby FLS is the Manager of the Grant Museum of Zoology at University College London.
Speaker: Jack Ashby FLS Producer: Ross Ziegelmeier
We (humans) are inextricably bound to the flora on earth, yet our futures seems to be among the stars! So, in order for us to survive in space we are going to, ironically, need to take earth with us, but how?
In this podcast we learn about how plants put us among the stars and will enable us, in the not too distant future, to explore galaxies far, far away.
Speakers include Dr. Sandy knapp, Head of the plants Division of the Natural History Museum; Lucie Poulet, Research Associate and PhD candidate at the Institute of Space Systems; and Angelo Vermeulen a space systems researcher, biologist and artist.
Produced By: Ross Ziegelmeier