생태학의 지적 궤적으로 본 과학의 국제화: 린네 식물학에서 국제 생물 사업 계획에 이르기까지

Abstract

This paper examines the historical development of ecology since the eighteenth century, particularly in its international contexts. The whole process from the Linnaean botany through plant geography/plant ecology to ecosystem ecology was closely interlocked with the internationalization processes. Linné’s botanical research was not only based on the practical evidence acquired through scientific travel around the world; it also became the main method of botany thanks to the Linnaeans’ practices throughout Europe. Humboldt was able to lay the foundation of plant geography, via intellectual communication with the native scientists whom he met during his exploration of the equinoctial regions of the New World. Around the early twentieth century, International Phytogeography Excursion provided an international forum by which to achieve the intellectual convergence and technical compatibility in the study of vegetation. The transfer of Eugene Odum’s ecosystem ecology to Sweden illustrates how the internationalization process of science could be facilitated by social and national needs. Finally, International Biological Program, one of the prominent big science programs after World War II, showed an aspect of transnational exchange of science through multi-polar interactions among nations.