Victorian Science

Victorian Science

1. Popular Science

   • Pepper's ghost, a huge sensation that crowds flocked to see, including prince albert.
     • It was a science exhibition in which human walked through a fully visible ghost, using plate screen and lighting to create the optical illusion.
     • A scientific demonstration that took the form of a spectacular entertainment. Crystallises the place of science in Victorian culture.
     • Creation of J. H. Pepper, a showman of science, so well known, one historian compared him to the 'celebrity chef of the victorian period.'
   • The notion of popular science contested amongst historians. Lay people were not passive recipients they were active and demanding consumers of scientific knowledge.
     • One way science was communicated was through spectacle. As entertainment, often very theatrical.
       • The Great Exhibition (1851) was a scientific spectacle. i promoted the latest science and technology, and Charlotte Bronte described it as a "wonderful place". And it sparked a fashion for large international exhibitions.
       • Lectures, readings and dramatic staging were also popular. Example- Huxley's popular lectures which explained Darwin's Origin to the working class listeners was lauded by Lyell as 'simply perfect'
       • Even as science became a profession in the 20th c. popular science remains a strong market with professional scientists eager to write for the public, early early on in the century.
     • The distinction between professional and popular science was still in the flux. Lay people could read and understand works by experts, which is no longer true today.
     • The most successful popularisers ere clever writes the paid attention tot the styles that sold well in other genres. Many populists were anglican clergy remained a dominant force in popular writing although they were driven out of scientific societies owing to their religion.
   • For the urban gentry and middle classes sicken was accessible at social gathering held by a wide range of learned societies from the royal society, to small local institutions.

2. Science

   • A period that saw major developments in sicken, ranging from evolutionary biology, to the physics of optics and heat, developments in technology and industrialising Britain.
   • Mistake to judge the the scientific ideas of the past according to contemporary standards. Today historians of science try to investigate the past on its own terms.
     • Historian Jame Second argues we should understand science first and foremost as 'form of communicative action.'
   • Types of Victorian science range from: Phrenology, the study of bumps on the skull to assess intelligence, to the science of using invisible "magnetic fluids" to enable one person to influence another.
     • Today these are all considered pseudo science, or obsolete ideas, but in the early Victorian period they seemed reasonable ideas.
   • Science was of interest to many people across wide swath of society. 1,000's of people joined scientific clubs and institutions, and attended scientific lectures and demos.
     • Although there were scientific experts there was no such thing as the 'scientist' until the turn of the 20th c. In the late 18th c. the preferred term had been "natural philosopher" whom in the 19th c. is replaced by the man of science.
       • The typical man saw himself as a gentleman, probably based off character rather than birth, relied less on wealth and patronage as the natural philosopher had.
   • The new status of science was partly owing to the rise of physics. Various men of science working together and separately developed the concept of energy. This new unifying concept allowed them to theorise about the various forms of energy.
     • Most of the work done on the physic of energy occurred in northern Britain. Including figures such as Lord Kelvin, James Joule and James Clerk Maxwell.
     • Physics, status as a premier science, it appealed to the sons of gentlemen because of its connections to maths ( on elf the most respected field to study at Oxbridge.) Its practical concerns lent it to the middle class men engaged in industry.
   • From the 1870's science became an accepted part of university and school curriculum. And various societies were formed or revitalised to promote science and research.
     • But neither science or religion were monolithic, for most victorians they overlapped and supported one another. And "Natural Theology" permeated both expert and popular society.
       • Many leading men of science were motivated by their religion to explore the natural world. They were able to reconcile their beliefs and their research.
         • Some men of science did challenge natural theology directly, the member of the X club, opposed any reference to the supernatural or the deity in scientific explanations.
     • But the many prominent scientists retained their faith.

3. Applied Science

   • The period witnessed numerous important application of science to real world problems. in spite of the fact curriculum at places like Oxbridge was not geared towards science or industry.
     • Technological advances remained an aspect of scientific work. British engineers were able to figure out how to use iron, steel, and sam engines to build cost effective ship sand railways.
     • Isambard Kingdom Brunel, illustrates this. he worked as an engineer from age 16. His ideas were respected and his railways were admired in their day. Brunel's career makes clear how technology and science were closely linked.
     • Victorians certainly valued technology, and the great exhibition was at least as much a celebration of technology as much as applied and pure science.
   • Scientific Naturalism- Persistent is the notion that history was forever changed by one book- Darwin , Origin of the species. But in fact there were multiple theories of evolution.
     • Evolution- The relentless radicalism and anti elitism of Grant, and the philosophical anatomist ensured the evolution was seen as dangerous and disreputable throughout the 1830s and 40s. The cultural positions of evolution began to change with the publishing of Vestiges', representation of evolution as unthreatening.
     • Vestiges was not by a man of science, it was written by journalist and publishers, Robert Chambers. it made evolution unthreatening by domesticating it . Thousands were fascinated.
   • Unity of composition nd transmutation wee endorsed and taught by a range of radically inclined men in private medical school, anatomy schools and the newer universities of London and Edinburgh. They welcomed a scientific theory of life as both progressive and competitive.
     • Charles Darwin- respectable gentleman, from a upper middle class family. he began pondering transmutation on his return journey from theGalapagos islands. Amazed at the difference between human societies.
       • Its publication was dramatic, and respectable men of science publicly attacked transformation, but within 30 years 50,000 copies had been sold. Darwin maintained neath his book or theory were in any ways an attack on religious faiths. But it did position humans amongst other animals nd not as uniquely privileged above others.
       • eugenics- was born,the notion that human evolution could be controlled through selective breeding. They were prompted by Darwin's cousin, Francis Galton. They were in evidence during the second south african war. It was also taken up by the Nazi's in the mid 20th c.
       • Origin of species cannot be held responsible for eugenics. However neither can it be heralded as a book that single handedly changed history. WE must recognise it for its key contributions. It advanced scientific discourse bot by introducing the theory of evolution, bu try making such theories acceptable for respectable men of science to endorse.
     • After he returned began to formulate theory of evolution, which relied on the mechanism of natural selection. that in nature we see a battle for the "survival of the fittest" a phrase actually coined by Herbery Spencer.
       • Although Darwin believed his theory to be correct, he also knew it would be championed in radical political and social circles in which most evolutionists travelled. But the mechanism of natural selection was not well received.