All Things Harmless, Useful, and Ornamental

“A nicely balanced account of the efforts of the Colony of Victoria to acclimatise 'all things harmless, useful, and ornamental', from the gold rushes of the 1850s until the late nineteenth century. . . . [An] excellent book.”—Historical Records of Australian Science

“Minard applies a whole field of new work in environmental history to questions long considered by the history of science in Australia, producing novel and more complex readings of topics that have occupied historians for decades.”—History Australia

“[All Things Harmless, Useful, and Ornamental] both updates existing acclimatization narratives and opens up further areas of investigation. Acclimatization, Minard shows, deserves renewed and increased attention from historians of science, environment, and empire alike.”—H-Net Reviews

“[Minard’s] study is especially strong on. . . . Placing Victorian acclimatization activities in the frame of environmental history and locating them within the contexts of the great city of Melbourne and the state of Victoria prior to their 1901 incorporation into the Commonwealth of Australia.”—Isis

“Tracing the development, dissemination and implementation of the ideas, ideologies and individuals behind Victorian acclimatization, and the conflicts between them, is the major contribution of this book.”—Agricultural History

“A good and much-needed study, this book helps us move beyond the general accounts offered by earlier scholars and come to a more nuanced understanding of acclimatization, and the changing, confused aims and ideas behind the movement. The study of acclimatization’s deep roots in the science of the period is useful, and by treating everything from Darwinian theory to the practical points of fish hatcheries, the text shows the varieties of knowledge, from fundamental principles to applied technology, the acclimatizers appealed to.” — Thomas R. Dunlap, Texas A&M University

“Pete Minard’s book is lively and tightly argued, offering a nuanced, close reading of animal acclimatization science, and should be widely read.” — Libby Robin, Australian National University