Pollen, women, war and other things : reflections on the history of palynology

I am grateful to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien; KVA), Stockholm, for hosting the conference at which the themes in this paper were presented. For archival material, I appreciate access to (and the assistance of): Gunnar Erdtman papers, Center for History of Science, KVA (Maria Asp); Thomas Woodhead papers, Kirklees Museums and Galleries (Tolson Memorial Museum, Huddersfield; Chris Yates); Harold Hyde papers, Botany Section Correspondence, Amgueddfa Cymru National Museum Wales (Heather Pardoe); Kathleen Blackburn papers, Natural History Society of Northumbria Archive, Great North Museum (Hancock), Newcastle upon Tyne (Alan Hart); material concerning Florence Campbell James, Aberystwyth University (Julie Archer). Richard Bradshaw, Paul Buckland, Andrew Cameron, Peter Coxon, Egill Erlendsson, Michael Grant, Alan Hart, Angus Lunn, Limi Mao, Heather Pardoe, Ed Schofield and Richard West are thanked for advice and assistance. I appreciate the constructive comments on a draft of this paper by John Birks. Jenny Johnston assisted with artwork.Peer reviewedPublisher PD