The Science of Abolition

“Herschthal documents the role of science in undermining slavery, even as scientific racism affirmed Black inferiority and slaveholders demonstrated a remarkable capacity to modernize coerced labor.”—E. R. Crowther, Choice

“Provides invaluable insight into the history of science and anti-slavery work from the Revolutionary era to the eve of the Civil War.”—Meg Eppel Gudgeirsson, New Mexico Historical Review

“Reviewers often say that a book is essential reading. The Science of Abolition really is. For historians of science, it presents a new account not only of the relationship between science and slavery but also of the making of nineteenth-century science more generally. For historians of slavery, [it] uncovers a new perspective . . . and provides a more fundamental rereading of the politics of antislavery itself.”—James Poskett, American Historical Review

“A smart, wide-ranging and learned book which will reshape our understanding of science’s role in the international movement against slavery.”—Nicholas Guyatt, University of Cambridge

“While recent historical literature has shown the complicity of the early science of man in the defense of slavery, Herschthal unearths an equally long intellectual tradition of antislavery science. This innovative book is timely, when science itself is under assault.”—Manisha Sinha, author of The Slave’s Cause: A History of Abolition

“A brilliantly written and engaging text that succeeds in complicating how prominently science was featured in the writings and lives of both abolitionists and pro-slavery advocates. Herschthal deftly centers black thinkers and leaders as they engaged with how science and scientific thinking could be utilized radically to help dismantle slavery.”—Deirdre Cooper Owens, author of Medical Bondage: Race, Gender, and the Origins of American Gynecology