How early genetic theories inspired visions of a perfect botanical utopia
In short: This lecture explores how the scientific theories of Hugo de Vries helped shape early twentieth-century ideas about designing nature and building ideal societies through controlled plant evolution.
The presentation examines the work of Dutch botanist Hugo de Vries, a pioneer who suggested science could eventually allow for the intentional design of plants and animals. This scientific shift intersected with social and literary movements, such as Charlotte Gilman Perkins' 1915 novel Herland. In that utopian story, a world populated by women functions as a perfect garden, where both the absence of men and the existence of extraordinary flora are explained through de Vries' mutation theory.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Making New Plants: A History - Jim Endersby
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