Without the colonies the European history of science would have taken a very different course. Not only was the development of zoology and ethnology closely linked to colonial history, the war staged on many diseases occurring in Europe, such as cholera and malaria, could not have been fought without the insights emerging from colonial life. This book presents a wealth of individual case studies as well as a look at many documents and evidence from colonial history. It shows how knowledge moved its way to Europe and how it eventually greatly influenced the course of progress during the 19th century

Studium der Romanistik und Geschichte in Konstanz und Paris. Tätigkeit im Verlagswesen. 1990: Promotion in Saarbrücken. 1998: Habilitation in Bielefeld. Seit 2000: Professorin für Mittlere und Neuere Geschichte an der Georg-August-Universität in Göttingen.