Gardens and Human Agency in the Anthropocene

"Focusing on gardens as spaces of mediation between nature and culture, this book offers a novel perspective on the Anthropocene, the proposed geological epoch shaped by human interventions. It offers a rich survey of historical experiences that may turn out to be invaluable when addressing the challenges of the Anthropocene." - Jurgen Renn, Director at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin, Germany "Contributors in this interdisciplinary volume show that humble gardens-technology-saturated landscapes that mediate between nature and culture - are an apt site for confronting the seduction of the mighty Anthropocene - and, just possibly, a means readily within our individual and collective human agency to mobilize technology for a better world." - Thomas J. Misa, University of Minnesota, President of SHOT (2019-2020) USA "By using the garden as a metaphor this series of essays successfully challenges man-induced environmental change, providing a text that should be read not only by this interested in landscapes and gardens, but by anyone interested in the future of life on earth." - Jan Woudstra, Department of Landscape, The University of Sheffield, UK

Maria Paula Diogo is Full Professor of History of Technology and Coordinator of the Interuniversity Centre for the History of Science and Technology (CIUHCT), School of Sciences and Technology, NOVA University of Lisbon, Portugal. Ana Duarte Rodrigues is Research Fellow of the Interuniversity Centre for the History of Science and Technology (CIUHCT), School of Sciences, University of Lisbon, Portugal. Ana Simoes is Full Professor of History of Science, Co-Coordinator of the Interuniversity Centre for the History of Science and Technology (CIUHCT), School of Sciences, University of Lisbon, Portugal, and President of the European Society for the History of Science. Davide Scarso is a Post-Doc Researcher at the Interuniversity Centre for the History of Science and Technology (CIUHCT), School of Sciences and Technology, NOVA University of Lisbon, Portugal.

Introduction 1. Hygiene, Education and Art: Roberto Burle Marx's 1930s Modern Gardens in Brazil 2. Between the Nuclear Lab and the Backyard: Artificially Enhanced Plant-Breeding and the British Atomic Gardening Movement - 3. Urban utopias and the Anthropocene 4. Shaping Colonial Landscapes in the early 20th century: Urban Planning and Health Policies in Lourenco Marques 5. From Pairidaeza to Planet Garden: The homo-gardinus against Desertification 6. From Homo Faber to Homo Hortensis: Gardening Techniques in the Anthropocene 7. The Distant Gardener: Remote Sensing of the Planetary Potager 8. Resistance in the Garden: Nature and Society in the Anthropocene 9. A New Machine in the Garden? Staging Technospheres in the Anthropocene 10. The Atom in the Garden and the Apocalyptic Fungi: a Tale on a Global Nuclearscape (with artworks and bird-songs) 11. Inhabitants: Image Politics in ongoing Climate Crisis 12. Troubled Gardens: Nature-technoculture binary and the search for a Safe Operating Space in Hayao Miyazaki's