The evolution of an urban scientific community under the
pressures of conceptual and social change is the main focus of this
book. Manchester was Victorian Britain's leading industrial city.
In order to describe and analyze the transformation of science in
the eighteenth century, Robert Kargon closely examines Manchester
through successive stages. In so doing, he traces the evolution of
science from an activity pursued by gentlemen-amateurs to a highly
specialized profession.
At the end of this process, the author shows, a major trans
formation in our understanding of the nature of science can be
discerned: scientific knowledge, it was realized, could be
produced. Science was no longer regarded primarily as the di vine
design rendered into laws of nature, but rather as a method, or
instrument, to be applied to novel areas of human endeavor. Science
had become on the one hand enterprise, and on the other expertise.
In each chapter, Kargon relates the changing conception of science
and its social role to the birth, growth, and character of the
city's scientific institutions.
The contours of the scientific community-its interests,
concerns, and approaches to what it came to see as critical
problem---were shaped by its civic environment. Its character, in
turn, responded to the development of the disciplines represented
within it. As the sciences increased in specialization and
complexity during the course of the nineteenth century, they placed
new stress upon the community, affecting the composition of its
membership and the nature of its leading institutions. The
scientific frontier reacted upon Manchester just as Manchester
acted upon it. Now available in paperback, this classic work in
history includes a new introduction by the author.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!