ANTHROPOLOGISTS IN THE STOCK EXCHANGE: A financial history of Victorian Science

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Marc Flandreua, former professor of finance and economic history at thein of the Institute of  International Studies and Developement of Geneva, is now Professor of Economic history at University of Pennsylvania.
Leading historian and economist ,has published important works on the International monetary system and financials entanglements of International istitutions from beginning of the 19th century onward. ( among other see for instance “ The glitter of gold: France bimetallism and the emergence of interational gold standard 1848-1873”- Oxford University Press), has now published “Anthropologists in the stock Exchange: A financial history of victorian science” with Chicago University Press. (2016).
The book explores the very thight connections between scientific enterprise, the learned Societies of the victorian age, political establishement and finance of the period in question.
In particolar from 1863 to 1871 (years under the lenses of the author) the Anthropological Society of London ( as well as other learned Societies)saw  important developement in number of membership and financial means . This period saw, as well, the dominance of the London Stock Exchange  as the most important financial market of the world and the building of the British  Empire.
Flandreau shows how social sciences ,during this period, were influenced and “ by the stock Exchange and its concerns”. According to the authors definition, rhe social sciences were influenced by “ the stock echange modality”, that is in the “art of puffing”or promoting financial bubbles. Joint stock compnies created by  important members of learned Societies were leveraged ,sold and distributed with huge profits for the promoters but with heavy losses for investors.
As the author writes:” ( the study) enables us to see the technological,political and sociological underpinnings of promotion of railways,steam boats,telegraphs and learned societies”. In other words : learned societies utilised the ownership of scientific and technological truth as instrument for financial deal-making.
Railways were one of the preferred mean of the vulture financial industry of the time. The machination involved,typically, three way partnership between bankers, engeenering and construction companies and agents of the foreign borrowing governaments, all this crucial in order to exploits investorsin the stok Exchange of London  and taxpayers of foreign borrowing countries.
Among many interesting characters of this story , Bedford Pim is worthwhile considering in the light of the Mosquito (monkey)business. Former brithsh naval officer  was discharged from the Navy  in consequence for his conduct with the King of the Mosquito Coast(i.e the est coast of the modern Nicaragua) in order to secure for himself the property rights on a territory  on which create a railway to link the atlantic with the pacific ocean. The so-called  Capitan Pim’s trail.
Pim was the author of  a racist book – Negro and Jamaica-  as well as other papers  of pseudo-scientific nature and aprominent member of Anthropologists Society of London and became at a given point  local representative of the Society in Nicaragua.
The Pimìs trail project ,which received the endorsement of the Nicaraguan governament, did not see the light ,but Pim was able, tanks to cunning financial engeneering, to secure for himself funding and property rights.
Pim, a real swindler according to the evidence provided by Marc Flandreau, before dying was created Rear Admiral of the Royal Navy by Disraeli.
The “business model” of this “scientists” was more or less always the same: find a suitable land abroad; secure apparently sound property rights  with minimal cash disbursement; prepare a project to build railways  on such land; create companies with huge nominal capital paid not with cash but with the titles of property acquired as above; finance the perspective works with the issue of debentures with the stamp o f the foreign States which had sold the property rights ;uitilise such  righst as security of the issue; sell the debentures on the market with well orchestrated road shows based not only on the project but also on the actractiveness of the territoryas particulary apt to became a settlement for a future colony.
This book is really fascinating under many aspects : brillianty written, extremely well documented it strips the veil of respectability of many of these learned societies which backed a number of these fake projects which clearly had nothing to do with the advancement of the science.