Discussing Chemistry and Steam

The Minutes of a Coffee House Philosophical Society 1780-1787
Erscheinungsjahr 2002
ISBN: 978-0-19-851530-2
Verlag: OUP Oxford

Buch, Englisch, 296 Seiten, Print PDF, Format (B × H): 161 mm x 240 mm, Gewicht: 611 g

This book contains an edition of the Minutes of the Coffee House Philosophical Society 1780-1787, as transcribed by William Nicholson, the secretary to the society. The 1780s were exciting years for science and for its applications, and experimental philosophy and industrial development were closely interwoven. This coffee house society provided a group of natural philosophers with the oppotunity to discuss the topics that most interested them. The minutes themselves, unique in their completeness, constitute a continuous record of the fortnightly meetings of a group of leading natural philosophers, instrument makers, physicians, and industrialist entrepreneurs. They are an important resource for historians of politics and society (including the industrial revolution), as well as for historians of science and technology.

In addition to a fully edited edition of the Minute book, and brief biographies of all the members, the book includes essays by Jan Golinski on the members' discussion about phlogiston and other issues relating to the chemical revolution, and by Larry Stewart on the reforming, radical, and industrial contexts of the networks to which the members belonged.

One of the standard criticisms of English science in the late eighteenth century is its isolation from the rest of Europe. These minutes offer a very different picture.The members, the Irish chemist Richard Kirwan taking the most active role, discussed current issues in science and reported on scientific and industrial advances from all Europe, and even from Hudson's Bay, showing early English awareness of the latest developments. The Minute Book gives a sense of history at a particular period, and is invaluable to all historians, whatever their specialism.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Levere, Trevor H.

Turner, Gerard L'E

Fachgebiete

• Naturwissenschaften Physik Physik Allgemein Geschichte der Physik
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Wissenschafts- und Universitätsgeschichte
• Naturwissenschaften Chemie Chemie Allgemein Geschichte der Chemie
• Naturwissenschaften Chemie Chemie Allgemein Toxikologie, Gefahrstoffe, Sicherheit in der Chemie
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Wissenschaftstheorie, Wissenschaftsphilosophie
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften: Allgemeines Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften, Formalen Wissenschaften & Technik
• Naturwissenschaften Chemie Chemie Allgemein Chemische Labormethoden, Stöchiometrie
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Kultur- und Ideengeschichte
• Naturwissenschaften Chemie Chemie Allgemein Chemometrik, Chemoinformatik
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften: Allgemeines Wissenschaften: Theorie, Epistemologie, Methodik
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften: Allgemeines Geschichte der Human- und Sozialwissenschaften
• Technische Wissenschaften Technik Allgemein Technikgeschichte
• Sozialwissenschaften Psychologie Psychologie / Allgemeines & Theorie Geschichte der Psychologie
• Naturwissenschaften Chemie Chemie Allgemein Pharmazeutische Chemie, Medizinische Chemie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

- 1: Introduction

- 2: The membership

- 3: The Minutes of the Chapter Coffee House Society 1780-1787

- 4: Conversations on chemistry: talk about phlogiston in the Chapter House Coffee Society

- 5: Putting on airs: science, medicine and polity in the late eighteenth century

- Bibliography

- Index