The growth of science on the continent was linked to the growth of colonialism. Simultaneously the “organization of international science congresses and networks, which established shared nomenclature and methods within disciplines and across nations; the professionalization of the bio- sciences and field sciences—such as geology, geography, evolution, archaeology, pale- ontology, zoology, botany, and anthropology—which took the earth and its inhabitants as their object of study; the inauguration of world fairs and science museums and their attendant exhibits comparing accomplishments in different parts of the globe and among different peoples; the development of international communication systems that allowed much more rapid circulation of scientific journals and correspondence; and the standard- ization and proliferation of national and international laws regulating, and therefore also defining, science, medicine, and technology (including and especially patent laws). It was through these imperial and transnational pathways that scientific communities began to achieve a critical mass and sufficient professional power to enable them both to think and to act in planetary terms, a process that continues to this day.” (113)
