The introductory chapter outlines the argumentative stakes of Unmaking Botany while providing a general overview of the history of the colonial Philippines and of Anglo-European botany up to the mid-nineteenth century. It covers historiographical trends in Philippine history that have oversimplified science conducted during the Philippines’ Spanish colonial period, often to the detriment of local actors and intellectual production. Following its detailing of the history of botany, it introduces the term “sovereign vernaculars” and traces the etymologies of its component words historically and in thought. The term recognizes ways of knowing plants beyond the conventional definition of the “vernacular” in the history of botany; that is, any non-Latinate plant name. The introduction concludes with summaries of the six chapters that comprise the book.