Britain's Fall - Derek Eidum

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Britains Fall from the Top of the Scientific World

Derek EidumDecember 16, 2010

Eighteenth century Britain was the perfect location for the birthplace of the Industrial

Revolution. The nation had an abundance of natural resources, namely coal and iron, necessary

for the new technology. They had also enjoyed a relatively long period of political stability and

economic prospering, putting money in the hands of potential investors. There was a large

unemployed population, which provided the labor force for the industry. And, perhaps most

importantly, Britain had entrepreneurs who were educated in Newtonian science and were

interested in utilizing this knowledge to promote their own businesses. It was this Newtonian

culturethe interest in scientific knowledge by the everyday citizenthat gave Britain their

head start towards industrialization and their reputation as the scientific leaders of the world.

Why, then, does Britain fall so far behind in scientific advancement by the end of the

nineteenth century? Britains fall from fame can be explained by a shift in focus from scientific

culture to science, as well as the changes in the practice of science during that time

associated with professionalization.

By the middle of the nineteenth century, both scientific culture and the Industrial

Revolution had spread from Britain to continental Europe and the United States. Therefore,

both of Britains major advantages over the rest of the western world had vanished. A

countrys scientific advancement could no longer be viewed in terms of scientific culture, and

therefore needed to focus on the science itself. It is important to note the difference between

these two concepts. Scientific culture is a widespread practice by the everyday citizens of a


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country that express a general interest in expanding ones own understanding of the world, and

often exploring how to use this knowledge for everyday applications. This involves activities

such as reading and attending lectures. Science, on the other hand, is practiced by a small

portion of the nations population, often in a university setting, and is measured in terms of

new scientific breakthroughs. So, scientific culture explores the body of knowledge available,

while science seeks to increase that body of knowledge. It was not a decline in scientific

culture, but a relative shortage of scientific progress in the nineteenth century that knocked

Great Britain from the top of the scientific world.

Why did Britain fall behind its competitors in scientific progress in the nineteenth

century? This relative decline was due in large part to the major reworking of the practice of

science in continental Europe during that time period. The practice of science shifted from a

hobby to a livelihood. According to Mary Jo Nye, Increasing specialization and

professionalization within science dovetailed with the creation of new kinds of institutions and

the carving up of subject matter within narrower and narrower disciplinary and subdisciplinary

boundaries (25). As a profession, science needed some form of credentialing, and this came

through university education. Universities sought recognition from the public and scientific

communities, and this lead to an emphasis on original research. In turn, the university setting

needed to be completely restructured in order to accommodate the increasingly specialized

fields. In France, the practice of science was completely reformed after the French Revolution.

New institutions were created, no longer based on aristocratic standards but rather on merit.

The most notable example of this is the cole Polytechnique, established in 1794. This new


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merit-based university system with a focus on scientific research made France the world leader

in science for much of the first half of the nineteenth century.

In Germany the story was much the same. Following in the footsteps of the French,

German universities placed more and more emphasis on research, and adapted their formats to

match. Research in science was established as a full time profession. Germany also instituted

technical high schools to educate their students in science and engineering. In addition,

German chemist Justus von Liebig established the first laboratory-based method of teaching

which forever changed the study of science at universities. Liebig is recognized as one of the

greatest chemistry professors in history, and many prospective young scientists came to study

under him, several of whom went on to do quality research of their own. German science

quickly became highly regarded worldwide, and many universities modeled themselves after

Liebigs laboratory method.

At the same time, British science had not changed very much. Despite the rapid

significant changes that were taking place in France and later in Germany, British universities in

the early nineteenth century operated basically just as they had the century before. Rather

than switching to a merit-based system as the French had done just after their revolution,

British universities remained dominated by the aristocratic upper class and clergy. There was

no clear path toward scientific research or credentialing, and research as a profession did not

widely emerge until close to the middle of the century. It was not until 1845 that Britain

founded a research university, the Royal College of Chemistry, to mimic the success of the

German model. By then, research universities in France and Germany already had a large head

start.


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Eighteenth century Britain had enjoyed the fruits of the Industrial Revolution, and was

the world leader in scientific culture. However, scientific culture was no substitute for scientific

research, and Britain was slow to adapt to the new merit-based, research-oriented university

system. This is not to say that Britain lacked scientific progress. On the contrary, nineteenth

century Britain produced such famous scientists as Charles Darwin and Michael Faraday.

However, in general the average Englishman of the time who sought a career in academic

science would have better luck overseas.

Nye, Mary Jo. Before Big Science : The Pursuit of Modern Chemistry and Physics, 1800-1940.

New York; London: Twayne Publishers; Prentice Hall International, 1996. Web

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Britain's Fall - Derek Eidum