Hybrid ambitions : science, governance, and empire in the career of Caspar G.C. Reinwardt (1773-1854)

Abstract

The German chemist-apothecary

Caspar Georg Carl Reinwardt (1773-1854) offers a fascinating window on

Dutch culture and society in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth

centuries. By providing an in-depth analysis of his multi-faceted career in the Netherlands and the Malay Archipelago, this study sheds light on the co-evolutionary character of science, governance, and empire. It argues that seeds of Reinwardt’s professional flexibility lay in his practical training in one of Amsterdam’s chemical workshops and his socialization in a broader cultural context where the improvement of society and economy played a crucial role.