This collection of case studies, focusing on British scientific culture during the first industrial revolution, explores the social basis of science in the period and asks why such an extraordinarily rich variety of cultural-scientific experience should have flourished at the time. The book analyses science and scientific culture in their local contexts, both metropolitan and provincial, examining where possibel the relations between the two, and emphasizing the range of scientific associations in London, to individual savants in the provinces. This book was first published in 1983.

First published in 2005, this book represents the first full length biography of John Phillips, one of the most remarkable and important scientists of the Victorian period. Adopting a broad chronological approach, this book not only traces the development of Phillips' career but clarifies and highlights his role within Victorian culture, shedding light on many wider themes. It explores how Phillips' love of science was inseparable from his need to earn a living and develop a career which could sustain him. Hence questions of power, authority, reputation and patronage were central to Phillips' career and scientific work. Drawing on a wealth of primary sources and a rich body of recent writings on Victorian science, this biography brings together his personal story with the scientific theories and developments of the day, and fixes them firmly within the context of wider society.

First published in 2005, this book represents the first full length biography of John Phillips, one of the most remarkable and important scientists of the Victorian period. Adopting a broad chronological approach, this book not only traces the development of Phillips' career but clarifies and highlights his role within Victorian culture, shedding light on many wider themes. It explores how Phillips' love of science was inseparable from his need to earn a living and develop a career which could sustain him. Hence questions of power, authority, reputation and patronage were central to Phillips' career and scientific work. Drawing on a wealth of primary sources and a rich body of recent writings on Victorian science, this biography brings together his personal story with the scientific theories and developments of the day, and fixes them firmly within the context of wider society.

This fascinating and unique history reveals the major influence of the Oxford Chemistry School on the advancement of chemistry. It shows how the nature of the University, and individuals within it, have shaped the school and made great achievements both in teaching and research. The book will appeal to those interested in the history of science and education, the city of Oxford and chemistry in general. Chemistry has been studied in Oxford for centuries but this book focuses on the last 400 years and, in particular, the seminal work of Robert Boyle, Robert Hooke, and the proto- Royal Society of the 1650's. Arranged in chronological fashion, it includes specialist studies of particular areas of innovation. The book shows that chemistry has advanced, not just as a consequence of research but, because of the idiosynchratic nature of the collegiate system and the characters of the individuals involved. In other words, it demonstrates that science is a human endeavour and its advance in any institution is conditioned by the organization and people within it. For chemists, the main appeal will be the book's examination of the way separate branches of chemistry (organic, physical, inorganic and biological) have evolved in Oxford. It also enables comparison with the development of the subject at other universities such as Cambridge, London and Manchester. For historians and sociologists, the book reveals the motivations of both scientists and non-scientists in the management of the School. It exposes the unusual character of Oxford University and the tensions between science and administration. The desire of the college to retain its academic values in the face of external and financial pressures is emphasized.

This collection of case studies, focusing on British scientific culture during the first industrial revolution, explores the social basis of science in the period and asks why such an extraordinarily rich variety of cultural-scientific experience should have flourished at the time. The book analyses science and scientific culture in their local contexts, both metropolitan and provincial, examining where possibel the relations between the two, and emphasizing the range of scientific associations in London, to individual savants in the provinces. This book was first published in 1983.

Oxford University has not always possessed the high reputation in the sciences for which it is now renowned: it was not until the period between this centurys two world wars that science was firmly established in a university previously noted for its devotion to arts subjects. By 1939, despite only modest increases in the numbers of fellows or undergraduates in science, Oxford had developed an important new research identity. This transformation took place in the face of considerable opposition. The powers of the colleges, the poverty of the University relative to collegiate wealth, and the heightened individualism endemic in a polycratic university combined to produce academic conservatism which even in the early twenties, could argue that Oxford should cede science to Cambridge and concentrate on its more traditional strengths in the arts. Jack Morrell shows how the innovators in the sciences coped with these idiosyncrasies and mustered a variety of resources, including government departments, leading industrialists, philanthropic trusts, and individual benefactors, to overcome academic inertia and to promote their subjects. Those interested in the institutionalization of science will find this study particularly important: it is the first book in English to examine the development of all the sciences in a major university of the twentieth century.