George Wilson's Vision of Early Victorian Science and Technology

George Wilson's Vision of Early Victorian Science and Technology PDF Author: David F. Channell
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1000730581
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
This volume is a comprehensive study of George Wilson, a leading advocate for evangelical science and for the role of biology in technology – it examines his work to develop a unitary vision of Victorian science and technology by drawing upon religion, transcendental natural history, and Baconian philosophy George Wilson was the first Regius Professor of Technology at the University of Edinburgh and the founding Director of the Industrial Museum of Scotland (now the National Museum of Scotland). Throughout his career he lectured and published on a wide range of topics, including the prospect of life on other planets, the history of science, natural theology, chemistry and poetry. His works were very popular - he was praised by Charles Dickens and his lectures drew large audiences, particularly women. Wilson sought to educate people about the significant scientific and technological developments taking place during the first half of the nineteenth century and create a unitary vision of science and technology. This book is largely based on Wilson’s own writings, and it is the first book-length study of him published in the last 160 years. This book is essential for researchers and scholars alike interested in Victorian science and technology.

George Wilson's Vision of Early Victorian Science and Technology

George Wilson's Vision of Early Victorian Science and Technology PDF Author: David F. Channell
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1000730581
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 244

Get Book

Book Description
This volume is a comprehensive study of George Wilson, a leading advocate for evangelical science and for the role of biology in technology – it examines his work to develop a unitary vision of Victorian science and technology by drawing upon religion, transcendental natural history, and Baconian philosophy George Wilson was the first Regius Professor of Technology at the University of Edinburgh and the founding Director of the Industrial Museum of Scotland (now the National Museum of Scotland). Throughout his career he lectured and published on a wide range of topics, including the prospect of life on other planets, the history of science, natural theology, chemistry and poetry. His works were very popular - he was praised by Charles Dickens and his lectures drew large audiences, particularly women. Wilson sought to educate people about the significant scientific and technological developments taking place during the first half of the nineteenth century and create a unitary vision of science and technology. This book is largely based on Wilson’s own writings, and it is the first book-length study of him published in the last 160 years. This book is essential for researchers and scholars alike interested in Victorian science and technology.

William Blake, the Single Vision, and Newton's Sleep

William Blake, the Single Vision, and Newton's Sleep PDF Author: Keith Davies
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1000913368
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 208

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Book Description
The history and philosophy of scientific ideas and the role poiēsis and imagination play in our understanding of science and progress are widely explored in this book. By examining the views of William Blake and other poets in the context of twentieth-century philosophers Hannah Arendt, Jacob Bronowski, Martin Heidegger, Bruno Latour and Karl Popper, amongst others, the book takes an eclectic approach drawing on examples from biology, history, literature, philosophy and economics, arguing for the reestablishment of imagination as a central attribute of science that may help to resolve some of our most pressing ecological problems as seen in the context of science and technology studies and what is loosely developing into the discipline of environmental humanities. Today, influential scientists looking at consciousness dismiss imagination regarding it at best as a mere epiphenomenon, a ghost in the machine, or at worst non-existent and to be denied. In this book, Keith G. Davies, who sees C. P. Snow’s debate on the separation of the arts and sciences as alive and well, traces the schism back to Plato but more importantly to the seventeenth century and David Hume’s removal of imagination in the conjunction between our observation of causes and their effects. Through extensive research and use of poetry, this book offers an alternate understanding of science with imagination and its continued significance in today’s world. This book is an excellent reference book for postgraduate students, professional researchers, William Blake scholars and the pejoratively labelled interested laymen with concerns in ecology and environmental humanities through offering a new perspective on the history of science and the role of imagination within this field.

Pestilence, Insanity, and Trees

Pestilence, Insanity, and Trees PDF Author: John M. Harris Jr.
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1003821340
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 397

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Book Description
This is the first full-length biography of New York surgeon and social activist Stephen Smith (1823–1922), who was appointed to fifty years of public service by three mayors, seven governors, and two U.S. presidents. The book presents the complex life of Stephen Smith, a consistent figure in the history of public health, mental health, housing reform in New York, and even urban reforestation. Utilizing Smith’s writings, public records, and recently discovered personal correspondence, this research shows how Smith succeeded where others failed. It also acknowledges that Smith was unsuccessful in convincing his fellow professionals to fight for a cabinet level public health department or to resist the rise of custodial care for the mentally impaired. Given Smith’s many accomplishments, the book asks us to consider if what stopped him stops us, highlighting the relevance of Smith’s story to contemporary debates. Pestilence, Insanity, and Trees is a readable and well-documented narrative and a resource for students and scholars, filling gaps in the history of American medicine, public health, mental health, and New York social reform.

Transforming American Science

Transforming American Science PDF Author: Jonathan Engel
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1000864154
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 287

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Book Description
Transforming American Science documents the ways in which federal funds catalyzed or accelerated changes in both university culture and the broader system of American higher education during the post-World War II decades. The events of the book lie within the context of the Cold War, when pressure to maintain parity with the Soviet Union impelled more generous government spending and a willingness of some universities to reorient their missions in the service of country and of science. The book draws upon a substantial amount of archival research conducted in various university archives (MIT, Berkeley, Stanford) as well as at the Library of Congress, the National Archives, and various presidential libraries. Author Jonathan Engel considers the repurposing of the wartime Manhattan Engineering District and the Office of Naval Research to robust peacetime roles in supporting the nation's expanding research efforts, along with the birth of the National Science Foundation, space exploration, and atoms for peace among other topics. This volume is the perfect resource for all those interested in Cold War history and in the history of American science and technology policy.

Human Extinction

Human Extinction PDF Author: Émile P. Torres
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1000904059
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 528

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Book Description
This volume traces the origins and evolution of the idea of human extinction, from the ancient Presocratics through contemporary work on "existential risks." Many leading intellectuals agree that the risk of human extinction this century may be higher than at any point in our 300,000-year history as a species. This book provides insight on the key questions that inform this discussion, including when humans began to worry about their own extinction and how the debate has changed over time. It establishes a new theoretical foundation for thinking about the ethics of our extinction, arguing that extinction would be very bad under most circumstances, although the outcome might be, on balance, good. Throughout the book, graphs, tables, and images further illustrate how human choices and attitudes about extinction have evolved in Western history. In its thorough examination of humanity’s past, this book also provides a starting point for understanding our future. Although accessible enough to be read by undergraduates, Human Extinction contains new and thought-provoking research that will benefit even established academic philosophers and historians.

Tore Godal and the Evolution of Global Health

Tore Godal and the Evolution of Global Health PDF Author: Conrad Keating
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1000921182
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description
This book is an interconnected history of the evolution of global health in the decades before 2019, told through the prism of six decisive moments in which individuals from the World Health Organization (WHO), philanthropic foundations, academia and bilateral agencies came together to shape the world. These critical junctures are accessed via the life and work of Norwegian immunologist Tore Godal, one of the most influential health physicians of all time. Godal’s career over the past 50 years offers a window into the profound events that have shaped the health and well-being of millions across the globe, including the first free donation of a drug for the treatment of river blindness; the entry of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation into the global health arena with a $750 million start-up grant for GAVI, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization; the 50% reduction in under-five mortality rates this century; the emergence of insecticide bed nets as the cornerstone of WHO malaria control; the rise of maternal and child health on the global political agenda; and the connection between Ebola and the creation of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) in 2017. Exploring the ways in which the trajectory of global health has interwoven with the rich life and legacy of Godal, this book is a crucial resource for any reader interested in global health.

Victorian Science in Context

Victorian Science in Context PDF Author: Bernard Lightman
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226481107
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 499

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Book Description
Victorians were fascinated by the flood of strange new worlds that science was opening to them. Exotic plants and animals poured into London from all corners of the Empire, while revolutionary theories such as the radical idea that humans might be descended from apes drew crowds to heated debates. Men and women of all social classes avidly collected scientific specimens for display in their homes and devoured literature about science and its practitioners. Victorian Science in Context captures the essence of this fascination, charting the many ways in which science influenced and was influenced by the larger Victorian culture. Contributions from leading scholars in history, literature, and the history of science explore questions such as: What did science mean to the Victorians? For whom was Victorian science written? What ideological messages did it convey? The contributors show how practical concerns interacted with contextual issues to mold Victorian science—which in turn shaped much of the relationship between modern science and culture.

The Wilson Chronology of Science and Technology

The Wilson Chronology of Science and Technology PDF Author: George Ochoa
Publisher: New York : H.W. Wilson
ISBN: 9780824209339
Category : Chronologie historique
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The authors of the New York Public Library Book of Answers series present a timeline of scientific progress--and equally intriguing detours--from the Stone Age to the Information Age. Within each year, entries are organized alphabetically by 13 disciplines: from archaeology and astronomy to the social sciences and technology. Sidebars yield further context (on items ranging from the disputed first production of wine to chaos theory); the birth and death dates of many of the scientific contributors featured are appended. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Visions of Science

Visions of Science PDF Author: James A. Secord
Publisher:
ISBN: 0199675260
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 321

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Book Description
Whilst political and social events shook continental Europe, scientific developments were changing the way we understood the world. At the height of this change a series of remarkable books about science were published. In Visions of Science, Jim Secord explores a selection of these titles and how they were received, disseminated, and admired.

Victorian Technology

Victorian Technology PDF Author: Herbert Sussman
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 0313082855
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 190

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Book Description
An enlightening history of 19th-century technology, focusing on the connections between invention and cultural values. Victorian Technology: Invention, Innovation, and the Rise of the Machine captures the extraordinary surge of energy and invention that catapulted 19th-century England into the position of the world's first industrialized nation. It was an astonishing transformation, one that shaped—and was shaped by—the values of the Victorian era, and that laid the groundwork for the consumer-based society in which we currently live. Filled with vivid details and fascinating insights into the impact of the Industrial Revolution on peoples' lives, Victorian Technology locates the forerunners of the defining technologies of the our time in 19th-century England: the computer, the Internet, mass transit, and mass communication. Readers will encounter the innovative thinkers and entrepreneurs behind history-making breakthroughs in communications (the transatlantic cable, wireless communication), mass production (the integrated factory), transportation (railroads, gliders, automobiles), and more.