1st Edition

The Development of Science and Technology in Nineteenth-Century Britain The Importance of Manchester

By Donald Cardwell, Richard Hills Copyright 2003

    This title was first published in 2003. Donald Cardwell's interest in the inter-relationships between science, technology, education and society are exemplified in the selection of his studies and essays brought together here. The first section deals with the rise of scientific education in Britain, comparing it with that on the Continent. The next studies explore the development of the scientific understanding of power, especially steam power, and its application in the new technologies of the Industrial Revolution. The final section looks at learned societies, and in particular at Manchester, making explicit a theme running through many of the articles - the reasons why science, society and education came together to make this city what he called 'the centre of the industrial revolution'.

    Contents: Science, Technology and Education: The development of scientific research in modern universities: a comparative study of motives and opportunities; Reflections on some problems in the history of science; The academic study of the history of technology; Science, technology and industry; The two-way mirror; Power Technologies, Thermodynamics and Electricity: Power technologies and the advance of science, 1700-1825; Power and textiles in the Industrial Revolution; Thermodynamics and practical engineering in the 19th century; Science and technology: the work of James Prescott Joule; Science and the steam engine in the early 19th century reconsidered; Industry, thermodynamics and society in the 19th century; Steam engine theory in the 19th century: from duty to thermal efficiency; from Parkes to Sankey; On Michael Faraday, Henry Wilde and the dynamo; The Importance of Manchester: Science and the European tragedies; The patronage of science in 19th century Manchester; Two centuries of the Manchester Lit. & Phil.; They made Manchester; Thoughts on voluntary scientific societies from the time of de Magalhaes to the present day; Index.

    Biography

    Donald Cardwell, Richard Hills