From 1780 to 1787 a group of chemists, medics, political radicals, philosophical clergy men, industrialists, and instrument makers met in their own homes and more frequently in a series of London coffee houses, the Chapter Coffee House chief amongst these. The members served as the center of a network of scientific intelligence that spread over Europe and as far as the US. The rules and procedures of the group and the minutes of their discussions were transcribed by one member, William Nicholson.
Contemporary accounts of such philosophical societies are extremely rare and the survival of...