Showing papers in "The British Journal for the History of Science in 2003"

Knowing and doing in the sixteenth century: what were instruments for?

Abstract: Despite recent work on scientific instruments by historians of science, the meeting ground between historians and curators of collections has been disappointingly narrow. This study offers, first, a characterization of sixteenth-century mathematical instruments, drawing on the work of curators, as represented by the online database Epact. An examination of the relationship between these instruments and the natural world suggests that the ‘theoric’, familiar from studies of the history of astronomy, has a wider relevance to the domain of practical mathematics. This outcome from a study of collections is then used in re-examining an established question in the history of science, the position of William Gilbert on the motion of the Earth.

Ethnology and colonial administration in nineteenth-century British India: the question of native crime and criminality

Abstract: This paper examines the central role of ethnology, the science of race, in the administration of colonial India. This occurred on two levels. First, from the late eighteenth century onwards, proto-scientists and administrators in India engaged with metropolitan theorists through the provision of data on native society and habits. Second, these same agents were continually and reciprocally influenced in the collection and use of such data by the political doctrines and scientific theories that developed over the course of this period. Among the central interests of ethnographer-administrators was the native criminal and this paper uses knowledge developed about native crime and criminality to illustrate the way science became integral to administration in the colonial domain.

The dilemmas of seditious men: the Crowther–Hessen correspondence in the 1930s

Abstract: The Marxist history of science has played an enormous role in the development of the history of science. Whether through the appreciation of its insights or the construction of a political fortress to prevent infusion, its presence is felt. From 1931 the work of Marxists played an integral part in the international development of the history of science, though rarely have the connections between them or their own biographies been explored. These networks convey a distinct history, alongside political, methodological and personal implications, impressing on us a greater understanding of the possibilities that were present and were lost in the most turbulent of decades. Two of the most notable were Boris Hessen, a founder of Marxist history of science, and J. G. Crowther, one of its most prolific exponents. My examination explores aspects of the dialogue between these controversial figures, starting with brief biographical sketches. Their lives became briefly entwined following the Second International Congress of the History of Science and Technology in 1931, demonstrated with reference to the meeting and the correspondence between them until Hessen's death. In doing so, some new facts and old controversies surface, though most importantly the nature of the correspondence carries implications for the Marxist history of science and for the wider movement of which it is part. The Russian delegation to the congress declared that science was at a crossroads. The history of science was at a similar crossroads in the 1930s.

M. du Bois-Reymond goes to Paris.

Abstract: This article examines the science of electrophysiology developed by Emil du Bois-Reymond in Berlin in the 1840s. In it I recount his major findings, the most significant being his proof of the electrical nature of nerve signals. Du Bois-Reymond also went on to detect this same 'negative variation', or action current, in live human subjects. In 1850 he travelled to Paris to defend this startling claim. The essay concludes with a discussion of why his demonstration failed to convince his hosts at the French Academy of Sciences.

Looking at the sky: the visual context of Victorian meteorology

Abstract: This article investigates visual methods in Victorian meteorology in the second half of the nineteenth century. While studies of visual representations in scientific work during this period have proliferated, there has been less attention paid to the relationships between scientific images and the broader visual culture in which they developed. Meteorology offers ideal ground for exploring visual culture and science, both because of the familiarity of the sky as an aesthetic subject, and because of the visual epistemology associated with popular forms of weather knowledge, called weather wisdom. Using examples from the study of clouds, especially the work of Charles Piazzi Smyth, the paper analyses the ways in which the challenges of meteorology raised questions about the nature of observation and precision. It concludes by suggesting that the broader context of Victorian visual culture must include the relationship of language and images, and traces those concerns in the history of cloud classification.

Victorian naturalists in China: science and informal empire

Abstract: This paper discusses the research of British naturalists in China during the period between the Opium War and the collapse of the Qing dynasty (1839-1911). China was defeated in the Opium War and forced to open treaty ports for trade with the Westerners. The foreign powers, particularly Britain, imposed upon the Qing government treaties, concession leases, favourable trade conditions, legal privileges and so on to reduce its political autonomy. In the shadow of the informal empire, not only did the British have more freedom to travel in China, first at the treaty ports and later in the interior, but they successively established diplomatic , commercial and missionary institutions in dozens of Chinese cities. The most important of them - the British Consular Service, the Chinese Maritime Customs and the Protestant missionary organizations - provided the talent and infrastructure for natural historical research and became networks for scientific information. The research into China's natural history epitomized the characteristics of British research on China in general: it engaged in collecting and circulating an ever-increasing amount of information and aimed at producing 'factual' and 'useful' knowledge about China. The paper modified current literature on scientific imperialism, which has dealt primarily with the colonial context, by examining the role of nineteenth-century British imperial science in the context of informal empire.

Vitalism and teleology in the natural philosophy of Nehemiah Grew (1641-1712)

Abstract: This essay examines some aspects of the early history of the vitalism/mechanism controversies by examining the work of Nehemiah Grew (1641–1712) in relation to that of Henry More (1614–87), Francis Glisson (1599–1677) and the more mechanistically inclined members of the Royal Society. I compliment and critically comment on John Henry's exploration of active principles in pre-Newtonian mechanist thought. The postulation of ‘active matter’ can be seen as an important support for the new experimental philosophy, but it has theological drawbacks, allowing for a self-sufficient nature relatively independent of God. Grew resists this view and, like Henry More, advocates the need for a vital principle to direct material nature towards its ends. I illustrate the connection Grew sees between teleology and vitalism and the paper closes with Pierre Bayle's reaction to Grew's attempt to support his religious commitments by appeal to vital principles. So many Arts, hath the Divine Wisdom put together; only for the hull and tackle, of a sensible and Thinking creature. Nehemiah Grew, Cosmologia

Science, religion and the geography of reading: Sir William Whitla and the editorial staging of Isaac Newton's writings on biblical prophecy

Abstract: The conditions surrounding the re-publication of Isaac Newton's treatise on the biblical books of Daniel and Revelation, under the editorship of Sir William Whitla in 1922, serve as a vehicle for examining how the writings of eminent scientists can be mobilized in the cause of local culture wars. After some reflections on the idea of the ‘geography of reading’, the paper turns to an analysis of Whitla's use of Newton's reputation as an apologetic device, and his staging of Newton's writings on eschatology in order to shore up Protestant values during the early days of the Northern Ireland state. This case study of the textual tactics of Whitla, the distinguished Ulster medical professor, Methodist layman and member of Parliament, draws attention to the significance of location in understanding the historical relations between science and religion.

Atomic secrets and governmental lies: nuclear science, politics and security in the Pontecorvo case

Abstract: This paper focuses on the defection of nuclear physicist Bruno Pontecorvo from Britain to the USSR in 1950 in an attempt to understand how government and intelligence services assess threats deriving from the unwanted spread of secret scientific information. It questions whether contingent agendas play a role in these assessments, as new evidence suggests that this is exactly what happened in the Pontecorvo case. British diplomatic personnel involved in negotiations with their US counterparts considered playing down the case. Meanwhile, the press decided to play it up, claiming that Pontecorvo was an atom spy. Finally, the British secret services had evidence showing that this was a fabrication, but they did not disclose it. If all these manipulations served various purposes, then they certainly were not aimed at assessing if there was a threat and what this threat really was.

Galileo, Copernicanism and the origins of the new science of motion

Abstract: The remarkable developments in Galileo's theory of motion revealed by his letter to Guidobaldo del Monte in 1602 have never been easy to account for in view of the almost complete lack of direct evidence. By examining the nature of the empirical evidence for the new ideas he advanced in 1602 and his earliest writings on motion in De motu, it is argued that the source of this transformation was his Copernican beliefs. There exists evidence that those beliefs led him to start work on his theory of the tides by 1595, and by 1597 to state to Kepler that Copernicanism had allowed him to account for many otherwise inexplicable phenomena. These comments very probably related to his new study of rotary and linear motion, linked to his theory of circular fall, which it is argued was devised at this point, and to an investigation of the pendulum. Such an investigation would account for his new interest in isochronism and his discovery of the link between linear and circular motion and to the two laws of isochronism announced to Guidobaldo in 1602: that of the pendulum and the law of chords.

Research schools of chemistry from Lavoisier to Wurtz

Abstract: The group which worked with Lavoisier in his laboratory also collaborated with him in publication and jointly edited the journal Annales de chimie. It has a good claim to be considered as a research school. Most historians of chemistry, who have studied the ‘chemical revolution’ in France, have focused uniquely on Lavoisier, giving scant attention to his co-workers and ignoring his assistants, thus overlooking their collective research, which created something of a precedent for nineteenth-century science. It has also been too easily assumed that the Lavoisier story ends with his death in 1794. After his demise, continuity with his ideas and method of working was provided by his former associates, particularly Berthollet in the Society of Arcueil. Further continuity was provided by the successive careers of Gay-Lussac, Dumas and Wurtz. In an increasing spirit of nationalism in the nineteenth century there developed a strong French tradition which looked back to Lavoisier as the founder of modern chemistry and a source of inspiration for collaboration in chemical research.

The formation of the Newtonian philosophy: the case of the Amsterdam mathematical amateurs

Abstract: In the eighteenth century, Newton's ideas were an important element of the dominant world view, but it was not immediately clear that they could play such a role. What made them seem philosophically relevant is investigated in the case of the Dutch Republic. At the universities people initially were rather sceptical about Newton's theories. Support came mainly from scientific amateurs who tried to place their religious feelings on a scientific footing. The Spinozists' claim that religion was refuted by mathematics created the need for a scientific answer, which would demonstrate the fallaciousness of Spinoza's geometrical method and uphold revealed religion. In this article, it is shown in some detail how Newtonian ideas were put to such use among mathematical amateurs in Amsterdam, mainly under the influence of informal contacts with David Gregory and his circle. Physico-theology appeared not so much as a fresh start as a transformation of the older mathematical approach of philosophical and religious questions.

The arguments on void in the seventeenth century: the case of Francis Bacon

Abstract: Francis Bacon's position on the existence of void and its nature has been mostly studied with regard to his views on the atom. This approach is undoubtedly right, but it disregards further topics related to Bacon's account of void, namely the world system and the transmutation of bodies. Consequently, a more comprehensive study of Bacon's view on vacuum seems desirable where all the contexts are taken into account. To address this desideratum, the present paper examines Bacon's different views on vacuum drawing attention to the various contexts of the discussion. It also gives an evaluation of the arguments put forward in support of his positions. The first section presents a reconstruction of Bacon's consecutive positions and the reasons for his changes of mind. The second section lists the experimental facts traditionally cited in debates about vacuum and Bacon's interpretation of these. The final section evaluates the role that these experimental facts played in Bacon's arguments. As a result, it is shown that Bacon fits entirely into the general pattern of the early seventeenth century. Empirical arguments by themselves had little value for solving the question of the void; it was also necessary to have a formerly established theory.

Emerging from the museum: Joseph Dawson, mineralogist, 1740–1813

Abstract: Joseph Dawson is known mainly as one of the founders of Low Moor Ironworks, near Bradford (Yorkshire). But he also had wide interests in science. Local museum collections illustrate several aspects of his work in chemistry and mineralogy. His mineral collection is particularly important because it is accompanied by a rare early catalogue in Dawson's hand. This shows how he arranged his 2206 mineral specimens according to Thomas Thomson's essentially wernerian classification. Dawson's comments about minerals as well as about iron furnaces demonstrate a view of science in which chemistry was fundamental. Moreover, his contacts with other iron-masters and leading industrialists, as well as with mineralogists and Nonconformist ministers, show him active within several networks through which scientific ideas, attitudes and practices were disseminated

“Newton Dépossédé!” The British Response to the Pascal Forgeries of 1867

Abstract: Between 1867 and 1869 Michel Chasles presented a series of manuscripts to the Academie des sciences, which suggested that Isaac Newton's claims to original discovery were unfounded. It quickly became apparent to the majority of the academicians that the manuscripts were forgeries, but Chasles was repeatedly allowed to state his case. This essay focuses on the responses to the affair from four British men of science: David Brewster, Augustus De Morgan, Robert Grant and Thomas Archer Hirst. It asks why they felt it necessary to add their voices to this debate and examines their various strategies for refuting Chasles's evidence.