Science and Power in the Nineteenth-Century Tasman World

‘Marvellous! Roginski puts phrenology into colonial life with skill, elegance and deep scholarly commitment. The spaces, people and knowledges here - vernacular, itinerant, antipodean - make us think freshly about popular sciences and their nineteenth-century performances.’ Alison Bashford, University of New South Wales‘Roginski’s lively account of popular phrenology in the nineteenth century Tasman world illuminates the role of neglected historical figures. Not only does she discuss how head reading was seen as important by white, male practitioners for the future of their race, she also shows how female, black, and Māori phrenologists appropriated it for their own purposes.’ Bernard Lightman, York University, Canada‘Alexandra Roginski’s book is a rich and thoughtful study of knowledge-making and science on the move. Sensitive to the particularities of place, she offers a reading of colonial science in Australasia that traces the centrality of difference in the construction and performance of knowledge in the bush, in towns, and growing cities. This book immerses us in a world of popular science and dramatizes the importance of phrenology in struggles over power, authority and cultural identity at the edge of the British empire.’ Tony Ballantyne, University of Otago‘… a rich, enthralling account of the popular science of phrenology and its shadowy practitioners.’ Penny Russell, Australian Book Review

Dr Alexandra Roginski is a historian and writer based on Wurundjeri Country in Melbourne, Australia, and a Visiting Fellow of the State Library of New South Wales and Deakin University.