Golinski’s Science as Public Culture

Jan Golinski, Science as Public Culture: Chemistry and Enlightenment in Britain, 1760-1820. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992.

I just started reading this book and am really optimistic about it.  While I don’t think Golinski will delve into the chemical theories of the various people that I’m interested in, he does do a great job of establishing the societal context for exactly my period of interest.  He looks at virtual witnessing ala Shapin and Schaffer, scientific rhetoric in various forms of communication, education, and professionalization.  I’m going to get back to reading now, but based on initial impressions, I’d recommend this book to all people interested in the sociological end of history of science.

Currently Reading: John Ray, Three physico-theological treatises

For Dr. Vermij’s history of science in the early modern period, we are reading primary sources from John Ray, a 17th century natural historian.  I haven’t gotten far enough in yet to make much of it, but I’m hoping to read the whole book today and write my response paper.  The class was told off last week for not turning our papers in early enough for everyone to read them before class.

Allchin, “James Hutton and Phlogiston” and McCann, “Chemistry Transformed”

Douglas Allchin, “James Hutton and Phlogiston.” Annals of Science 51 4 (1994): 615-635.

Allchin’s article portrays Hutton as a chemist and looks at his theory of phlogiston and some of the contextual reasons why he maintained his view into the 1790’s. Allchin shows how Hutton and others saw ways for explanatory uses for phlogiston, even while accepting the existence of oxygen. My thesis will in some ways parallel this article, in that both show how leading scientists maintained and developed phlogiston theories after the supposed crucial experiment of 1785.

H. Gilman McCann. Chemistry Transformed: The Paradigmatic Shift from Phlogiston to Oxygen. Norwood, New Jersey: Ablex Publishing Corporation; 1978.

McCann’s book develops many useful talking points on the Chemical Revolution as an exemplar of Kuhnian revolution. McCann studies statistical trends in publishing to show conversion patterns and how they differ based on the age and nationality of the author. He also shows that France was more productive in terms of number of articles published in chemistry during the second half of the 18^th century. However, McCann’s narrow definition of chemists during this time period leads to several historical anachronisms and his reliance on journal-based statistics also seems too constricted. Many of the “chemists” that McCann mentioned published important monographs, dictionaries, and encyclopedias on physical science. While McCann says that he was trying to be inclusive in disciplinary boundary disputes between chemistry, mineralogy, meteorology, medicine, and pharmacy during this period, making distinctions of this nature at all is problematic in a time when few people interested in science studied or even identified any particular discipline. His description of London as scientifically bankrupt during this period also seems to be counter-intuitive in light of the production of Joseph Banks, Joseph Priestley, Henry Cavendish, James Watt, Richard Kirwan, and other notable scientific authors of the day. I think that McCann’s statistics may prove somewhat useful for contextual evidence of vague trends, and I hope that I will find that others have developed on some of his sociological methodologies in studying scientific revolutions. I think that historical research based on the bodies of the text, rather than just statistical data about them, will prove more useful in understanding the theories involved and how they changed over time.

Lisa M. Zeitz, “Natural Theology, Rhetoric, and Revolution: John Ray’s Wisdom of God, 1691-1704”

Lisa M. Zeitz, “Natural Theology, Rhetoric, and Revolution: John Ray’s Wisdom of God, 1691-1704.” Eighteenth Century Life 18 1 (1994): 120-133.

This is a nice quick article primarily focused on John Ray’s use of rhetoric in his book, Wisdom of God.  Zeitz first looks at the rhetoric of natural theology stressing its wide-spread use in 17th century England.  She then looks at Ray’s emphasis on community and cumulative learning in his description of the scientific method.  Zeitz notes that this focus on community fits well with the political scene in England after the Glorious Revolution.  Latitudinarians pushed for a broad notion of Protestant religion to try to quell discord and insure peace and prosperity after years of civil war and sectarian strife.  Cumulative, empirically based knowledge appealed to the common sense of everyone, which, again, promotes tolerance and equality.  Zeitz effectively establishes Ray’s use of rhetoric to fit into the society of his time and to promote both his tolerant religious views and his epistemology of science.

Wolfgang Philipp, “Physicotheology in the age of Enlightenment: appearance and history.” Studies on Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century 57 (1967): 1233-1267.

Wolfgang Philipp, “Physicotheology in the age of Enlightenment: appearance and history.” Studies on Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century 57 (1967): 1233-1267.

I read this article earlier in the day, and it is horrific.  This is one of the single worst written things I’ve ever read.  I’m pretty sure that it was originally written in French and then translated into English.  However, the journal publishes primarily French articles, so I don’t know why this was necessary.  Whatever the reason, the sentences are extremely short and grammatically flawed.  Most of the article consists of lists of books on Natural Theology without any useful commentary, and the author never actually proposes or makes any argument.  In short, never read this.

Currently Reading on Natural Theology

John Brooke, Science and Religion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991.

Wolfgang Philipp, “Physicotheology in the age of Enlightenment: appearance and history.” Studies on Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century 57 (1967): 1233-1267.

Clarence J. Glacken, Traces on the Rhodian Shore: Nature and Culture in Western Thought from Ancient Times to the End of the Eighteenth Century. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967.

Helene Metzger, Attraction universelle et religion naturelle chez queques commentateurs anglais de Newton. Paris, 1938; 3 vols.

Baratay, Eric. “Zoologie Et Eglise Catholique Dans La France Du Xviiie Siecle (1670-1840): Une Science Au Service De Dieu.” Revue d’Histoire des Sciences 48, no. 3 (1995): 241-65.

These are my readings for this week for my History of Science in Early Modern Europe class. To be fair, I’m only reading sections from the books and the section from Metzger, while in French, is only like 21 pages long. If anyone is interested in natural theology or intelligent design, these might make interesting readings. Many advocates of natural theology (late 17th and early 18th century) made a similar “from design” argument to modern ID folk. The basic line said, “The great beauty of the natural world and the way that everything works together show the grace of God and his daily providence.” In stark contrast to modern feelings of conflict between science and religion, science was consciously written for and used as an argument against atheism. Newtonian cosmology and in specific gravity were seen as the constant presence of God ensuring order rather than chaos in the universe. William Derham was an especially vocal advocate of these views. Anyway, anyone interested in the relationship between science and religion (who can read French) should check these texts out.

An Administrative History of the Academic Divisions of the University of Oklahoma

Konrad K. Koch, “An Administrative History of the Academic Divisions of the University of Oklahoma,” Masters Thesis, OU, 1950.

This masters thesis from 1950 is a well researched description of the administrative history of the various academic divisions here at OU (as the name would suggest). For my internship, I’m trying to find the dates when each department in the university first was permitted to offer graduate education, and when they minted their first graduate students. Koch’s thesis proves useful for the purpose. He has a list of the deans of the graduate college up to 1950 and a list of the degrees offered to that date and when they were first offered.  There are a couple of ways to access this text, if you are for whatever reason interested. First you can go to the Western Histories Collections here at OU and ask to see their copy. This assumes however that they can find it; I have had trouble with them before, including with this particular text. However, the thesis is also available online through the OU Library catalog. I’m not sure you even have to be logged in to the system. I don’t know why someone scanned this fairly esoteric text, but I’m very happy they did.

Currently Reading: Chemistry Transformed

McCann, H. Gilman. Chemistry Transformed : The Paradigmatic Shift from Phlogiston to Oxygen, Modern Sociology. Norwood, N.J.: Ablex Pub. Corp., 1978.

This looks to be my thesis, written in 1978. The book uses theories from the social sciences to analyze the chemical revolution as a Kuhnian paradigm change. Luckily, we’ve learned a good bit about Kirwan since 1978, and I’m hoping that I know more about Kuhnian paradigm theory than McCann. I have access to two of the preeminent Kuhn scholars in the field – my adviser, Peter Barker, and his collaborator, Hannah Anderson – so I should be ok. Hopefully then this will give me some food for thought and perhaps some points to update or refute.

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I’m hoping to use this site to keep track of what I’m reading.  I’m going to do updates on what I’m currently reading to track my thoughts as I go through a book, and then a review for each book when finished.  I’ll probably also include shorter entries for Journal articles.

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