Patrick Matagne 
Birth of Scientific Ecology 
Eugenius Warming (1841 – 1924)

This book presents a biography of the Danish botanist Eugen Warming. As the author of a treatise on ecology that brought him international recognition, he was able to inspire the first generation of 20th-century European and American ecologists.

His innovative approach to nature and his Arctic and tropical missions heralded the birth of a new science and an ecological awareness.

As a professor at several Scandinavian universities during a period of intense debate and controversy over evolutionary theories, Eugen Warming vigorously asserted his convictions. Birth of Scientific Ecology presents the image of a man of knowledge and power, recognized by his contemporaries as a founder of ecology and a player in the ecological project of the Kingdom of Denmark at a time when the empires were clashing.

Table of Content

Foreword xi

Acknowledgments xv

Introduction xvii

Part 1 From Mando to Lagoa Santa 1

Chapter 1 Eugenius’ Birthplace 3

Chapter 2 Jutland: At the Roots of a Passion 11

Chapter 3 An Interrupted University Course 21

Chapter 4 From Rio to Lagoa Santa: A New World 27

Part 2 Good Times and Bad 65

Chapter 5 Outstanding Doctoral Studies 67

Chapter 6 Intense Activity, a Detour via Stockholm 75

Chapter 7 Back to Copenhagen 85

Part 3. New Latitudes 95

Chapter 8 Arctic and Tropical Missions 97

Chapter 9 Eugenius’ Arctic Botanical Geography 107

Chapter 10 The Long-Term Tropics 119

Part 4. Professor Warming’s Ecology 131

Chapter 11 1895 – 1896: Ecological Botanical Geography 133

Chapter 12 Authorized Editions, or Not… 147

Chapter 13 1909: Oecology of Plants in the Storm 153

Chapter 14 Limits and Potentials 167

Chapter 15 Warming’s Ecology and Evolutionary Theories 191

Part 5 The Ubiquitous Professor Warming 223

Chapter 16 The Institutionalization of Ecology 225

Chapter 17 The Man of Knowledge and Power 241

Chapter 18 The Protagonist of the Danish Ecological Project 253

General Conclusion 275

References 279

Index of Names 305

Index of Terms 313

About the author

Patrick Matagne holds a doctorate in Epistemology and the History of Science from the University of Paris VII, France. He was a lecturer at the University of Poitiers, France, until 2020.