Perfect Mechanics: Instrument Makers at the Royal Society of London in the Eighteenth Century


Richard Sorrenson


About the Author

Richard Sorrenson obtained his PhD in the history of science from Princeton University. He now lives in Auckland, New Zealand and manages The University of Auckland Foundation and its endowment fund.

Reviews

Richard Sorrenson has rescued from obscurity an important chapter in the history of the Royal Society, and in so doing has just made our account of 18th-century science fascinatingly more complicated. By illuminating the humble work benches of its elite instrument makers, he encourages us to radically re-evaluate the significance of their technical insights and ideas. Sorrensen proves to be the perfect mechanic of a daring new take on the development of enlightenment science.

Dr Ken Arnold
Head of Public Programmes, Wellcome Collection

In this engaging and lively book, Richard Sorrenson ventures into the bustling world of 18th-century London’s scientific instrument makers who, by virtue of their mastery and reputation, sprung themselves into that most gentlemanly of scientific bodies, the Royal Society. Balanced at the intersection of commerce, science, exploration, and empire, instrument makers like George Graham, John Dollond, and Jesse Ramsden combined their mathematical knowledge and their investigations into the physical qualities of the instruments’ materials to construct ever more precise clocks, quadrants, and telescopes. Sorrenson captures the excitement of Georgian “big science” and the starring roles played by London instrument makers in the scientific expeditions to measure the shape of the earth, to find and map unknown lands in the Pacific, and to explore the heavens. Yet these indispensible practitioners of “mixed mathematics,” recognized and honored by the Royal Society through fellowship and the awarding of the Copley Medal, became increasingly marginalized by the gentlemanly FRS after 1800 and the essential tensions between commerce and science, mechanical and craft production, and social classes brought an abrupt halt to this dynamic and inventive period.

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Andrea Rusnock
Professor, University of Rhode Island

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Publication Date: Jul 14, 2013

ISBN/EAN13: 0988744929 / 9780988744929

Page Count: 252

Binding Type: US Trade Paper

Trim Size: 6" x 9"

Language: English

Color: Black & White