Abstract
Focusing on the most important European botanist of the sixteenth century, Carolus Clusius (1526-1609), his work and network, this research project investigates how European botany became a field of specialist, scientific expertise during the period 1550-1610. This process took place both inside and outside the universities, while botany continued to have strong roots in practical expertise. The new cultural history of science forms the theoretical framework of the project and has inspired the choice of three closely related principal themes and questions: 1) how sixteenth-century courts, aristocratic households, towns and universities functioned as ateliers of knowledge and contributed to the development of types of botanical expertise, research methods and forms of presentation; 2) which types of exchange (of information and gifts) shaped the growing European community of botanical experts; and 3) what Clusius? contribution was to the innovation of botanical research practices. By investigating these topics, the project intends to explore the relatively underdeveloped field of practical knowledge and its contribution to science; throw more light on networks, exchanges and research practices that were part of the European republic of letters and precursors to the scientific revolution; and contribute to the discussions about the formation of scientific fields of expertise.