Unwin, Patrick R. and Unwin, Robert. (2007) 'A devotion to the experimental sciences and arts': the subscription to the great battery at the Royal Institution 1808-9. British Journal for the History of Science, Vol.40 (No.2). pp. 181-203. ISSN 0007-0874

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

A significant but neglected theme in the history of British science in the nineteenth century is the funding of institutional research. The subscription to the 'great battery' at the Royal Institution in 1808 and 1809 provides the first instance of named individuals prepared to commit themselves to the provision of apparatus to be used for research in the new field of electrochemistry. This paper analyses the subscribers who were deemed to be 'enlightened' and whom Humphry Davy subsequently described as 'a few zealous cultivators and patrons of science'. Using information from the subscription list, a distinction is made between the individual subscriptions pledged and the sums actually paid. In contextualizing the subscription, insights are provided into the Royal Society, the contemporary scientific community and the politics of metropolitan science. The voltaic subscription represents an early example of the repercussions of the nature of research funding for institutional finances and governance.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	Q Science
Divisions:	Faculty of Science > Chemistry
Journal or Publication Title:	British Journal for the History of Science
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
ISSN:	0007-0874
Date:	June 2007
Volume:	Vol.40
Number:	No.2
Number of Pages:	23
Page Range:	pp. 181-203
Identification Number:	10.1017/S000708740700948X
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Restricted or Subscription Access
URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/31799

Data sourced from Thomson Reuters' Web of Knowledge

Request changes to a record

Actions (login required)

View Item