I thought the discussion was over on this subject. Aren't we voting?
Ron Killingworth
Director
On 9/18/2014 23:04, John Jones wrote:
From Anner Whitehead:
"Ladies and gentlemen,
I'm concerned about this idea of putting chapters from The World of
Irises up on the wiki.
I think the question which badly needs to be raised is this: What
parts are we talking about here?
My conviction is that the quality of information that the AIS
publishes or republishes in any medium or arena is every bit as
important --and arguably more so-- as the quantity of information
sent forth; moreover, the presumption that accretions of error or
unsoundness or confusion will in time be canceled through the organic
growth of the encyclopedia in many hands --as I have best understood
the argument to be-- strikes me as unsupported by subsequent
developments.
Now, I ask: "What is there in TWOI which still represents our best
understanding of the subject, which best represents the current
policies of the Society, which is iterated in the best possible way?"
I'm not sure there is a lot of this sort of thing in the book.
People are quite obviously not finding TWOI so essential to their
joie de Iris vivre that they will actually buy the thing, at any
price, and this lack of enthusiasm has been apparent for longer than
the effect of social media and related has been operational in demand.
I've never given anyone a copy of the thing, because I found it a
tedious, limited, and offputting resource. It has no heart.
Now, anent a couple of particulars: First,obviously we should not
publish outdated science or outdated material about chemicals or
whatever, I mean, that would be irresponsible unless we were
promoting the notion of TWOI as an historic document integral to the
history of horticultural science, which would be farcical. Whether
the chapters on the begats or chromosome science and such are still
valid and of compelling interest is a question I must leave to those
more learned on the subjects.
But as a self-taught student of the biology of Iris, one who joined
the AIS so I could join SIGNA, I can remember to this day how
confusing and bizarre and uninspiring I found the first chapters of
the book, the systematics. And it was not because I was stupid or
bone ignorant. I'd read Mathew's book, and Kohlein, and was full of
enthusiasm, and yet there was something amazingly opaque aboutTWOI,
and the presentation therein of the AIS Classification system. It
just did not persuade me, especially the idea of classifying Iris
species according to horticultural size categories-- among other
things. I do understand that the system reflects an enormous amount
of work and negotiation and compromise on the part of those who
developed the horticultural categories, derived the abstract
definitions of proportion and so forth which embody what we consider
ideal, and I honor that, you betcha, but we can do so much better in
explaining all this to non-scientists than did TWOI.
And as an historian of the history of the Society, and of the genus
Iris, I am obliged to opine that John Wister's essay--which was
actually reprinted from Garden Irises--can no longer to be considered
adequate. It was always simplistic, and it contains a lot of what we
might call the romantic myth of the birth of Iris interest in the
USA. I have, of course, published on this subject, reflecting
research which was in part motivated by my own frustration with
Wister's insular, and not entirely reliable, account.
We have learned a lot of things in the years since TWOI was
published. I'd like to think we have a better idea of the complexity
of the history of Iris, and of the Society. I remember when I was
working on my piece on the Rev. Harrison, whom Wister mentions only
in passing. As his amazing story revealed itself to me, and I sat at
this desk, working to tell it, I felt as if a window had suddenly
been thrown open in the room, and a warm breeze was blowing in,
bringing with it the smell of flowers and farms, of city gardens, of
human life, and sweat-- of a wider world of irises. I like to believe
that the AIS is and always will be a vital part of this richer world.
I see I am becoming impassioned. Eh! I love books, you know this, but
do please hear me: Give them only the good stuff, always and forever.
Cordially,
Anner M. Whitehead"
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