Review by Choice Review
This ambitious work, built upon a massive base of secondary works combined with the records of the African Research Survey project begun in the 1930s to examine how the sciences could be used to solve African colonial problems, looks at the impact of scientific studies and scientists on colonial policies and imperialist ideas. Tilley (Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison) argues that the introduction of expert scientific examination of African problems by the British, bent on economic and social development, created a fundamental contradiction in the imperial system. Once "in the field," scientists increasingly stressed the importance of Africans themselves, their cultures, languages, and localities. Implicit in this thesis is the suggestion that in this clash lay the origins of decolonization. The history of "knowledge production" is an expanding field of study, and this remarkable book illustrates how it can be used for historical revision and reinterpretation when applied to specific world regions. An additional strength is how besides looking at the natural sciences and medicine, Tilley compares their impacts with investigations into anthropology, economics, languages, and the "social sciences." Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. J. E. Flint emeritus, Dalhousie University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
