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Botany

Everything in the article was relevant and nothing was distracting. It is also neutral. In fact, the history given on the subject is very well laid out in the Wikipedia article. One thing that seems odd to me is that there are no citations in the introduction. Are you supposed to have citations there if you have been claiming facts based on an other's source? A am sure you are but this extremely well written article otherwise, does not have citations in the intro. The sources that they used do check out as credible and suitable. There are no conversations in the talk page either, just people letting others know of their contribution to the page. The article on Botany is also rated as a "good" article. This wiki page differs from what we have learned in class because it is much more broad and widely covered than that of what we learned in class. In class, we learned that Botany was not really part of mainstream History of Science studies. We also learned that the Spanish were some of the first to cultivate spices in their new colonies which kept them in the economical race of the time. Obviously there is a lot more to botany than that. Surprisingly though, the article actually does not have a section on Spain and their contribution of botany.

Economic Botany in Spain

Contrary to common belief that modern economic botany had been spearheaded by the British as early as the 19th century, economic botany had been exemplified in the form of plant diffusion for millennia. It really took a foothold beginning as early as the 7th century during the early phases of the Islamic Empire. Then it was further studied by the Spanish due to their position in the colonial world.

Roots in Islamic Endeavors

As the Islamic Empire reached its westernmost limits on the Iberian Peninsula, Muslims were able to bring with them flora from the east. Between the 10th and 11th centuries, multiple types of non-native citrus were reported to exist on the Iberian Peninsula. Several books were published on the subject between the 10th and 14th centuries, showing the detailed nature of Islamic botany, differentiating between various citrus such as lemons, limes, sweet and sour oranges, pomelos, and grapefruit. In addition to classifying these various citrus before western naturalists, the Muslims were also responsible for citrus diffusion (except for the citron) and cultivation in the Mediterranean Basin. Because of Islamic presence in the Iberian Peninsula before the fall of the Empire, Paula De Vos explained that the greater western world gained its botanical scientific roots from Islamic botany.

Early Spanish Botany

Spanish Exploration for Spices

During the Age of Exploration and Discovery, the Spanish engaged in botany not for the sake of botany as a science, but for economic and personal gain. The Spanish King Charles III stated that an expedition to South America in the 18th century was for the benefit of learning about the regions' flora, but more specifically to build upon the kings' Museum and Garden with plants and botanical illustrations. For the most part, many of these expeditions from Spain were taxonomic, but the botanists did take note of medicinal uses of many flora.

The other factor for Spanish involvement in botanical sciences during this time was because of their lack of power in spice trade. The main location for spice trade during this time was in the Spice Islands, which had been under the control of the Portuguese since 1513 until later in the 17 century when its was taken over by the Dutch. The Spanish Empire sent Magellan on a voyage for the purpose of gaining trade relations with the Spice Islands, but failed due to Portuguese control of the area. Spanish attempts at gaining power in the Spice Islands, however, were not fruitless. Antonio Pigafetta, who was on Magellan's expedition recorded many important botanical properties of the important spices found in the Maluku Islands, which would later help the Spanish in their botanical economically motivated botanical pursuits.

In addition to their attempts to gain power in the spice trade in the Moluccas, the Spanish also sought after similar spices in their colonies in the Philippines and and the Americas. In the early 17th century, the Spanish found that there were numerous valuable spices like cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, and pepper that could be cultivated in the Philippines similarly to what the Portuguese could in the Moluccas. In the Americas however, the Spanish found spices of different verities who's properties differed from those of the verities found in the East. Some of these properties were for the better, for example a type of pepper found in the Caribbean was described by Nicolas Mondares as more flavorful and spicy than black pepper. But there were also verities of spices found in the Americas that were not suitable for the Spanish to gain power in spice trade. For example, the cinnamon that Mondares found in the Americas had no taste or smell at all, though it was most definitely a variety of cinnamon.

Francisco De Mendoza

As the Spanish realized that their colonies in the Americas and the Philippines were not going to be able to produce a suitable amount of spices that they needed to gain an economic advantage, they upon the idea of transplantation. The first Viceroy of New Spain, Antonio De Mendoza showed interest for transplantation 1542, and illegally came upon seeds from the East Indies. Later in 1558 with Antonio De Mendoza's help, Francisco De Mendoza (his son) gained rights total rights to the production and trade over various spices from the East Indies. Francisco De Mendoza was granted all the land he saw necessary to carry out this operation, despite reservations from the Council of the Indies, who thought it intolerable to give Mendoza so much power over the situation.

Although there was almost no documentation of Mendoza's success, Nicolas Mondares was able to contact Mendoza. He found out that Mendoza had indeed been successful in cultivating both ginger and China root in New Spain. The Council of the Indies and the Spanish Crown did not gather proficient information on Mendoza's scientific and economical success although they tried. The grants given to Mendoza in 1558 provided him with enough power as to be able to avoid confrontation altogether until his death. After Mendoza's death, his spice operation failed to continue.

Ginger Transplantation

Though the transplantation of most of the spices that Mendoza brought to New Spain didn't succeed, ginger was one that actually flourished in certain regions. Ginger did not do well on the mainland of New Spain, but it grew on the Caribbean Island of Hispaniola. In fact, ginger was largest crop in Hispaniola during the late 16th century, even larger than the sugar crop. Ginger was so successful on the island that there were serious problems with oversupply and overshadowing of the sugar industry.

Because of their success with ginger in the Caribbean, the Spanish tried transplantation in Spain. They brought the information they learned about growing ginger from New Spain back to Europe. In some cases, the Spanish were successful in growing ginger and it was to to grow well in Seville and neighboring areas. Even though ginger grew well in Spain, it was never a major export, thus diminishing its economic value.

Gunpowder Empires of Asia

The three Islamic Gunpowder Empires are known for their quickly gained success in dominating the battle fields using their newly acquired firearms and techniques. East Asians and their military success are commonly overlooked in this subject due to the success of not only the Islamic Empires, but also European Empires. The success and innovation of gunpowder combat in East Asia however, are worth mentioning in the same context as that of the Islamic Gunpowder Empires for their military advancements.

Japan

The Japanese adopted the use of the Portuguese arquebus in the middle of the 16th century. Multiple accounts have said that Portuguese men working for Chinese pirates ended up in Japan by chance and impressed the local ruler with the weapons. Soon after, the Japanese started mass producing the Portuguese style weapon for themselves. In other accounts, this firearm technology may have trickled in to Japan as early as 1540 from the constant in and out flow of Japanese mercenaries who could have picked up firearms in their travels. Soon, Japanese soldiers carrying firearms would greatly outnumber those with other weapons.

Tonio Andrade cited that the Military Revolution Model that gave the Europeans so much military success included the use of superior drilling techniques. The drilling technique he was speaking of was the musketeer volley technique. The volley technique was said to have been invented by Japanese Warlord Oda Nobunaga. He used the same technique that Japanese archers used, but the the effect that the technique had to allow soldiers to reload at the same time others could fire was devastating to their enemies.

China

Similar to how arquebus technology trickled into Japan, there were various ways that the Portuguese style small firearms came to China. During the golden age of East Asian Piracy between the 1540s and 1560s, it was most likely that through their battles and other encounters with these pirates, the Ming forces inevitably got hold of the weapons and copied them. It was also likely that a powerful mariner Wang Zhi, who controlled thousands of armed men eventually surrendered to the Ming in 1558 and they replicated his weapons. This particular account on arquebus technology was the first to spark the interest of Ming officials for the Chinese to broaden their use of these weapons.

The Chinese also intensively practiced tactical strategies based on firearm use which resulted in military success. Qi Jiguang, a revered Ming military leader drilled his soldiers to extremes so that their performance in battle would be successful. In addition, Qi Jiguang also used innovative battle techniques like the volley, counter march, dividing into teams, and even encouraged having a flexible formation to adapt to the battle field.

During the Sino-Dutch War beginning in 1661, Ming commander Zheng Chenggong used similar tactics to Qi Jiguang effectively in battle. While the Dutch may have had superior weapons, the Chinese were able to defeat Dutch forces through their strict adherence to discipline and to stay in formation. Ultimately, it was their technique and training that defeated the Dutch weapons.

Korea

Koreans had been using Chinese and self made firearms as early as the late 14th century. They were also quite adept and innovative with their strategies on the battle field. In fact, there were accounts of Koreans using a type of volley technique in 1447. But a war between the Japanese against the the Koreans and the Ming starting in 1592 and ending in 1598 would change the Korean's perspective on warfare. While it was a devastating defeat to the Koreans, this war forced the Koreans to realize that they needed to adopt the use of the musket as well as Japanese and Chinese methods. The Koreans quickly issued the musket as the base of their military tactic, and their musketeers became more than 50 percent of the military by 1594. They trained using manuals based on Qi Jiguang's techniques such as the volley, while incorporating their own methods too. These events marked the beginning of a Korean military revolution in which the Koreans could combat their enemies using modern equipment and methods of warfare.

There were many instances where the Korean military used their new techniques effectively. In 1619, the Koreans aided the Ming against the Manchus, a great military force. While the Koreans and Ming lost, a Korean unit did exhibit their techniques successful in battle. Then, in 1627 and 1636, the Koreans faced the Manchus alone, again showing their competency in battle by using their musket tactics. Again, they lost in battle to the Manchus in both battles.In 1654 and 1658, the Koreans aided the Qing in battle against the Russians for control over land in Manchuria. In these instances, the Koreans showed their superior tactics and were the reason for the Russian's defeat.