Susan Scott Parrish

About the Author

Susan Scott Parrish is a distinguished historian and author whose work illuminates the intersections of science, culture, and empire in early modern America. With a PhD from Yale University, she has taught at institutions including the University of Michigan, where her research explores how natural history shaped colonial identities and knowledge systems. Parrish's scholarship draws on extensive archival sources to reveal the diverse voices—from Indigenous informants to enslaved Africans—that contributed to the era's scientific discourse. Her acclaimed book, American Curiosity: Cultures of Natural History in the Colonial British Atlantic World, offers a groundbreaking analysis of how curiosity about the natural world fueled transatlantic exchanges and intellectual curiosity in the eighteenth century. Through her engaging prose, Parrish bridges academic rigor with accessible storytelling, making complex historical narratives vivid and relevant to contemporary readers interested in environmental history and postcolonial studies.