Course delivery and schedule
The course includes 7 x 90-minute sessions with plenty of opportunity for further conversations and networking during breaks and mealtimes.
Aims of the course
The course will allow you to:
- Gain a greater understanding of the English Enlightenment.
- Appreciate the close links between politics, science, commerce and empire.
- Recognise the multiple roles played by women in science’s history.
Course content
Knowledge is Power
The dictum of Elizabethan philosopher Francis Bacon inspired many generations of British researchers, fuelling not only their experimental approach towards the world but also their expansionist ambitions. Far from being an abstract intellectual exercise, science was rooted in political and commercial interests, relying mainly on private initiative and investment with relatively little support from government financing. By the end of the 18th century, Newtonian science had eclipsed its competitors, British industry was booming and the nation’s territorial possessions were spreading around the world. Although the term ‘scientist’ had not yet been coined, this was a crucial foundational period for modern scientific society.
These seven talks explore ways in which power was harnessed in bids for technological progress, economic gain and global influence. Drawing liberally on art, literature and politics, they demonstrate that scientific achievements are inseparable from their cultural context.
1667: A Manifesto for the Future
In the turmoil following the Civil War, the plague and the Fire of London, 1667 was a year of utopian optimism. The first blood transfusion from an animal into a human being was performed, Robert Hooke’s Micrographia was republished, Isaac Newton became a Fellow of Trinity College, and Thomas Sprat’s The History of the Royal-Society of London appeared. Less a history than a manifesto for the future and designed to convince Charles II that experimental research was a worthwhile investment, this book forms the focus of a lecture describing the aims and activities of the early Royal Society, when education followed the medieval curriculum and the word ‘scientist’ had not yet been invented. It discusses two complementary aspects of the Fellows’ Baconian philosophy – experiment and travel – by analysing Sprat’s frontispiece, which features three types of instrument: mathematical (as taken over from surveyors, navigators, etc); optical (microscopes and telescopes); and natural philosophical (Robert Boyle’s air-pump). Emphasis is placed on the Royal Society’s global ambitions, underpinned by Francis Bacon’s aphorism that ‘Knowledge is Power.’ Sprat praised ‘the Royal Society’s Twin-Sister,’ an early joint-stock company also founded in 1660 that claimed exclusive trading rights along the coast of Guinea. As well as profiting from it financially, Fellows used the Company to solicit information about minerals, wildlife and human societies. As Sprat knew, science, imperialism and finance were inextricably linked.
Gravity: The Newtonian Empire
Newton’s ideas underpinned a worldview characterised by central control, uniformity and mathematization – Newtonian imperialism. Metaphorically, Britain lay at the hub of a global system, dominating the world by importing unprocessed materials and exporting the products of civilization, including scientific knowledge. Furthermore, as head of the Royal Mint for 30 years, Newton profited from the triangular trade in gold, sugar and enslaved peoples. After he described the cosmos in equations, the Enlightenment faith spread that numbers are what count: quantification now also embraced the natural and the human worlds.
Electricity: Revolutionary Sparks
Electrical machines were the most exciting invention of the 18th century – ‘An Entertainment for Angels,’ enthused one fictional young woman. Initially, these powerful new instruments produced, stored and discharged static electricity, but in 1800 the first battery appeared that could generate a continuous current. Electrical experts earned money through their dazzling performances, but they also promised humanitarian benefits, such as medical cures and agricultural improvements. Particularly through association with Benjamin Franklin, electricity came to symbolise a revolutionary and more democratic future.
Steam: The Lunar Society of Birmingham
Steam engines were first used in Cornish mines, but during the 18th century they were recruited to power Midlands machines. The Lunar Society – an informal group of 12 inventors, factory owners, doctors and social reformers – met to exchange ideas every month. They are credited with making England the first European country to embark on industrialization by introducing mechanization, embracing science and developing efficient transport networks. Several members were also politically active, campaigning to abolish international slavery, expand women’s education and improve working conditions.
Empire: Exploration or Exploitation?
The 18th century is often called the Age of Discovery, but many apparently scientific voyages of exploration were also motivated by ambitions to acquire natural resources, secure foreign territory and establish trade deals and markets for British goods. Global ecology altered irreversibly as crops, animals and plants were transported around the world. As a case study, this lecture focuses on Joseph Banks, the botanist who sailed to Australia with James Cook and ruled the Royal Society for 42 years: he exemplifies British ambitions and the power of royal patronage.
Life: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
Often said to be the first work of science fiction, Frankenstein provides an extended and subtle commentary on science’s influence over society and the ethical problems that arise. The book originated as a ghost story, but developed to include the latest scientific topics including polar exploration, electricity and chemistry. Extremely well-informed, Mary Shelley also drew on other fields to consider central questions that remain unresolved – the nature of life, the distinctions between people and animals, and the moral price of progress.
Women: Il Newtonianismo per le Dame
This session discusses a particular book – Il Newtonianismo per le Dame (1737), by the Venetian Francesco Algarotti – and also the role of women as audiences, translators and critics in the spread of Newtonian science during the 18th century.
Presentation of the course
Each session will consist of an illustrated lecture, but free discussion will also play an important part.
Course programme
Friday
Please plan to arrive between 16:30 and 18:30. You can meet other course participants in the Terrace Bar which opens at 18:15. Tea and coffee making facilities are available in the study bedrooms.
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19:00
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Dinner
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20:30 – 22:00
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1667: A Manifesto for the Future |
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22:00
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Terrace Bar open for informal discussion
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Saturday
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07:30
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Breakfast (for residents only)
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09:00 – 10:30
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Gravity: The Newtonian Empire |
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10:30
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Coffee
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11:00 – 12:30
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Electricity: Revolutionary Sparks |
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12:30
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Free time
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13:00
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Lunch
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14:00
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Free time
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16:00
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Tea
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16:30 - 18:00
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Steam: The Lunar Society of Birmingham |
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18:00 – 18:30
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Free time
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18:30
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Dinner
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20:00 – 21:30
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Empire: Exploration or Exploitation? |
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21:30
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Terrace Bar open for informal discussion
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Sunday
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07:30
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Breakfast (for residents only)
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09:00 – 10:30
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Life: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein |
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10:30
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Coffee
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11:00 – 12:30
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Women: Il Newtonianismo per le Dame |
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12:45
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Lunch
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Departure after lunch
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Course materials
Course materials include the course syllabus, detailed timetable, reading list and tutor biography. Once these materials are available, you can download them from the Documents section below.
We will also email these to you before your course starts. Please check your spam folder if you have not received them.
Please note that our weekend courses are non-credit bearing and there is no formal assessment.
