Getting down in the weeds to get a god’s-eye view: The synoptic topology of early American ecology

Abstract

This chapter employs a case in early American ecology to propose a topological approach to technical graphics. Tracing the topos/position of the scientific observer through Roscoe Pound, Frederick E. Clements, and Henry Cowles’s formative work in botanical geography from reveals a series of shifts starting from situated, human observation and culminating in synoptic or “god’s-eye” observation. These shifts indexed crucial political dynamics in American environmental discourse–namely, the initiation of biopolitics in treating ecosystems as bodies to be governed; and, the privileging of expert observers over lay observers. The chapter concludes by noting particularities of visual shifts to synopticism that may assist rhetoricians who wish to intervene in emergent biopolitical discourses.