The Government of Natural Resources explores government scientific activity in Quebec from Confederation until the Second World War. Scientific and technical personnel are an often quiet presence within the state, but they play an integral role. By tracing the history of geology, forestry, fishery, and agronomy services, Stéphane Castonguay reveals how the exploitation of natural resources became a tool of government. As it shaped territorial and environmental transformations, scientific activity contributed to state formation and expanded administrative capacity. This thoughtful reconceptualization of resource development reaches well beyond provincial borders, changing the way we think of science and state power.

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Graeme Wynn is a professor of historical geography at the University of British Columbia and editor of BC Studies. He is a Fellow of The Royal Society of Canada and lives in Vancouver.

Graeme Wynn's profile page

Kathe Roth was born in Montréal and now lives in Saint-Lazare, Québec. She has been a literary translator and editor for more than twenty-five years. Her work includes over thirty translated books and essays of literary non-fiction on various subjects, including art, architecture, economics, history, and sociology, as well as fiction. She was a finalist for the Governor General Award for literary translation in 1993 for “The Last Cod Fish” by Pol Chantraine. She is a member of the Literary Translators Association of Canada.

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The author provides great detail on the history of technical and scientific advances in the four natural resource areas of Quebec from 1867 to 1939.

Choice Connect

In meticulously detailed chapters devoted to the development of mining, forestry, wildlife conservation, and agriculture, Casonguay shows how Quebec took control of its resources.

Literary Review of Canada