Selling experiment : public experimental lecturing in London, 1705-1728
Date
1995
Authors
Snobelen, Stephen David
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Abstract
This thesis examines the careers of the early eighteenth century experimental lecturers Francis Hauksbee, Sr. (c. 1666-1 713), Francis Hauksbee, Jr. (1688-1763), William Whiston (1667-1752), John Theophilus Desaguliers (1683- 1744), and the lecturers of the Little Tower Street Academy. These lecturers presented Boylean air pump experiments, demonstrations of Newtonian mechanics and other replications of experiments. Using primarily a survey of newspaper advertisements, along with course syllabi, the development of public courses of "experimental philosophy" is tracked for the period 1705-1728. Along with a reconstruction of lecturing patterns, this thesis concentrates on several comparative and analytic themes, including the competitive strategies of the lecturers; issues of income potential and patronage, and the social locations of public experimental activity. This thesis is a contribution to research for this period on 1) the commercialization and popularization of science, 2) scientific entrepreneurship, 3) scientific pedagogy and 4) scientific spectacle.