Emotions, Science, and Gender, 1800-1960

This book presents a novel approach to the history of science by moving beyond the traditional focus on scientific authorities, institutions, and informants. It argues that histories of science cannot be limited to the study of 'science' alone, but must also consider the formation of scientific subjectivities (suffused with emotions), which were neither pre-formed nor fixed. Examining how individual scientific perspectives were formed within the context of non-settler colonies, the author focuses specifically on the case of ornithology in India. He highlights the role of gender, particularly femininity, and the work of 'women of science,' an area that has received limited attention in colonial histories of science. Simultaneously, the book explores how gendered categories of masculinity and femininity were implicated in these practices and reformulated in the process.

This book also examines the intersection between science and emotion. For example, the author explores the influence of loneliness, grief, arrogance, and racial superiority in attracting people to science and shaping their works. Drawing on concepts from the history of emotions, such as ‘emotional communities,’ ‘emotional clusters,’ and ‘emotional performances,’ the book highlights the fluid nature of emotional experiences within scientific practices. This interdisciplinary approach provides a comprehensive understanding of how emotional, gendered, and scientific subjectivities were entangled within a complex colonial context.