Enlightenment, Modernity and Science : Geographies of Scientific Culture and Improvement in Georgian England

ISBN-13: 9781848853669 / Angielski / Twarda / 2010 / 384 str.

LL.B . Paul Elliott

Opis

Scientific culture was one of the defining characteristics of the English Enlightenment. The latest discoveries were debated in homes, institutions and towns around the country. But how did the dissemination of scientific knowledge vary with geographical location? What were the differing influences in town and country and from region to region? Enlightenment, Modernity and Science provides the first full length study of the geographies of Georgian scientific culture in England. The author takes the reader on a tour of the principal arenas in which scientific ideas were disseminated, including home, town and countryside, to show how cultures of science and knowledge varied across the Georgian landscape. Taking in key figures such as Erasmus Darwin, Abraham Bennett, and Joseph Priestley along the way, it is a work that sheds important light on the complex geographies of Georgian English scientific culture.

Spis treści

Contents 1. Introduction 2. Scientific Culture and the Home in Georgian Society 3. Uniting Science with the Charm of Landscape: Darwin’s Gardens: Place, Horticulture and Botany 4. Dissenting Academies and Scientific Culture 5. Freemasonry 6. Public Botanical Gardens 7. Town and County 8. Scientific Culture and Politics in Georgian Nottingham 9. Natural Philosophy, Enclosure and Improvement 10. Placing Electricity and Meteorology: Abraham Bennet (1750-1799) 11. Conclusions 12. Bibliography Index