The Derby Philosophers Science and Culture in British Urban Society, 1700-1850

by Elliott, Paul

• ISBN13: 9780719079221
• ISBN10: 0719079225
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-08-28
• Publisher: Manchester University Press

Summary

This book focuses upon the activities of a group of Midland intellectuals that included the evolutionist and physician Erasmus Darwin, Rev. Thomas Gisborne the evangelical philosopher and poet, Robert Bage the novelist, Charles Sylvester the chemist and engineer, William George and his son Herbert Spencer, the internationally renowned evolutionist philosopher who coined the phrase "survival of the fittest," and members of the Wedgwood and Strutt families.The book explores how, inspired by science and through educational activities, publications and institutions including the famous Derbyshire General Infirmary (1810) and Derby Arboretum (1840), the Derby philosophers strove to promote social, political and urban improvements with national and international consequences. Much more than a parochial history of one intellectual group or town, this book examines science, politics and culture during one of the most turbulent periods of British history, an age of political and industrial revolutions in which the Derby philosophers were closely involved.

Author Biography

Paul Elliott is  Lecturer in Modern History at the University of Derby.

Table of Contents

List of figures	p. vii
Preface	p. ix
Introduction	p. 1
Politics, religion, urban culture and natural philosophy, c.1700-1770	p. 11
Natural philosophy and utility	p. 34
Joseph Wright, John Whitehurst and Derby philosophical culture, c.1760-1783	p. 54
The Derby Philosophical Society	p. 69
Dissent, politics and natural philosophy: the campaigns of the 1780s and 1790s	p. 86
Enlightenment and improvement: the campaign for the enclosure of common lands during the 1790s	p. 113
The Derby Literary and Philosophical Society	p. 132
The Derbyshire General Infirmary	p. 163
Evolution: Erasmus Darwin, William George Spencer and Herbert Spencer	p. 190
Women and Derby scientific culture, c. 1780-1850	p. 217
Civic science and rational recreation: the Derby Mechanics' Institute (1825) and the Derby Arboretum (1840)	p. 235
Conclusion	p. 260
Appendix: Members of the Derby Philosophical Society (1783-c.1850) and members of the Derby Literary and Philosophical Society (1808-1816)	p. 269
Select bibliography	p. 276
Index	p. 291
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

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