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Maria G. Mandourari

Periods of nineteenth century British Public Science

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Page 1: Periods of nineteenth century British Public Science

Maria G. Mandourari

Page 2: Periods of nineteenth century British Public Science

The nineteenth and early twentieth

centuries

The Premier Age of British Public Science

Page 3: Periods of nineteenth century British Public Science

Seminal discoveries

Theoretical achievements

Application of new technology to

transportation and manufacture

New physical landscape

Improved quality of everyday material

life

Page 4: Periods of nineteenth century British Public Science

A) The First Period:

1800 – 1851 (Great Exhibition)

Public scientists as…

Page 5: Periods of nineteenth century British Public Science

Sir Humphry Davy (17 December 1778 – 29 May 1829) was an English

chemist and inventor

Page 6: Periods of nineteenth century British Public Science

Sir David Brewster (11 December 1781 – 10 February 1868) was a Scottish

physicist, mathematician, astronomer, inventor, writer and university

principal

Page 7: Periods of nineteenth century British Public Science

Charles Babbage (26 December 1791 – 18 October 1871) was an English polymath. He was a mathematician, philosopher, inventor

and mechanical engineer, who is best remembered now for originating the concept

of a programmable computer

Page 8: Periods of nineteenth century British Public Science

The importance of science as:

Mode of useful knowledge

Instrument of self-

improvement

Aid to profitable, rational and

individualistic economic activity

Pillar of natural religion

Page 9: Periods of nineteenth century British Public Science

British Association, in 1851, the astronomer George Airy

Page 10: Periods of nineteenth century British Public Science

"In Science, as well as in almost

everything else, our national genius

inclines us to prefer voluntary

associations of private persons to

organizations of any kind dependent

on the State"

Page 11: Periods of nineteenth century British Public Science

i. Britain's early industrial advance

ii. Gospel of free trade

Page 12: Periods of nineteenth century British Public Science

Utilitarianism*

Natural Religion**

Social attitudes of scientists

* Utilitarianism is a theory in normative ethics holding that the proper course of action is the one thatmaximizes utility, usually defined as maximizing happiness and reducing suffering (Anscombe, G. E. M.,‘ModernMoral Philosophy’ in Philosophy, Vol. 33, No. 124. (Jan., 1958), pp. 12)**Natural religion most frequently means the "religion of nature," in which God, the soul, spirits, and allobjects of the supernatural are considered as part of nature and not separate from it.

Page 13: Periods of nineteenth century British Public Science

Emphasized:

a) Self-adjustment of the social

mechanism

b) Social problems as matters

for technical solution

Page 14: Periods of nineteenth century British Public Science

B) The second period:

mid-1840s - late 1870s

Great Victorian scientific

publicists

Page 15: Periods of nineteenth century British Public Science

Thomas Henry Huxley (4 May 1825 – 29June 1895) was an English biologist(comparative anatomist), known as"Darwin's Bulldog" for his advocacy ofCharles Darwin's theory of evolution

Page 16: Periods of nineteenth century British Public Science

John Tyndall (2 August 1820 – 4 December1893) was a prominent 19th centuryphysicist. His initial scientific fame arose inthe 1850s from his study of diamagnetism

Page 17: Periods of nineteenth century British Public Science

William Kingdon Clifford (4 May 1845 – 3March 1879) was an English mathematicianand philosopher

Page 18: Periods of nineteenth century British Public Science

Evolution

Atomism

Conservation

Clergy

Religion

metaphysics

Self-conscious

professional

scientific

community

New material

comfort

Better health and

physical well being

Intellectual liberty

Incorporated into

the educational

system

Social mobility

Page 19: Periods of nineteenth century British Public Science

Early 1870s British scientists:

Independent Professionally Self-defined

community

Little influence inthe civic arena.

The state refusedto patronize themin a regularfashion

Industry ignoredthem

Educationalsystem marginallyincorporated them

Page 20: Periods of nineteenth century British Public Science

C) The third period:

More civic minded and state-oriented

Values of:

a. Collectivism

b. Nationalism,

c. Military Preparedness

d. Patriotism

e. Political Elitism

f. Social Imperialism

Page 21: Periods of nineteenth century British Public Science

Science:

a. Create & educate better citizens for state

service and stable politics

b. Ensure military security & economic

efficiency of the nation.

Politicians and manufacturers replaced

priests and clergy as the primary perceived

enemy of the progress and application of

scientific knowledge