This book examines the role of science in the XIXth and early XXth centuries, in the context of British imperialism and the rise of the American empire, as a way to fulfil a quest for knowledge, a tool in the exploration of foreign lands, discourse on and representations of otherness, as well as a source of anguish and questioning. The fields of research are human and social sciences, racial theories, natural sciences, in specialised or popularised works, in travel narratives and literary texts.