Nature Exposed: Photography as Eyewitness in Victorian Science - Hardcover

Tucker, Jennifer

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0801879914 ISBN 13: 9780801879913

Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006

Synopsis

In Nature Exposed, Jennifer Tucker studies the intersecting trajectories of photography and modern science in late Victorian Britain. She examines the role of photograph as witness in scientific investigation and explores the interplay between photography and scientific authority.

Almost immediately after the invention of photography in 1839, photographs were characterized as offering objective access to reality―unmediated by human agency, political ties, or philosophy. This mechanical objectivity supposedly eliminated judgment and interpretation in reporting and picturing scientific results.

But photography is a labor-intensive process that allows for, and sometimes requires, manipulation. In the late nineteenth century, the nature of this new technology sparked a complex debate about scientific practices and the value of the photographic images in the production and dissemination of scientific knowledge.

Recovering the controversies and commentary surrounding the early creation of scientific photography and drawing on a wide range of new sources and critical theories, Tucker establishes a greater understanding of the rich visual culture of Victorian science and alternative forms of knowledge, including psychical research.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

In Nature Exposed, Jennifer Tucker studies the intersecting trajectories of photography and modern science in late Victorian Britain. She examines the role of photograph as witness in scientific investigation and explores the interplay between photography and scientific authority.

Recovering the controversies and commentary surrounding the early creation of scientific photography and drawing on a wide range of new sources and critical theories, Tucker establishes a greater understanding of the rich visual culture of Victorian science and alternative forms of knowledge, including psychical research.

"Tucker's brilliant study enlarges traditional concepts of photographic evidence by tying together the social processes and institutions that created the scientific photograph to the shift in the professional development of science itself."― Victorian Studies

"The strength of the book lies in Tucker's analysis of the broad historical context in which scientific photography emerged in Victorian Britain."― Science

"Tucker's book is a challenging exploration of how, when, and under what conditions photography came to be seen as an enhanced representational tool for a range of scientific practices in Victorian Britain."― American Historical Review

"An impressive, long-overdue critical companion to the early history of scientific photography in Britain that leaves few stones unturned. It is also an enjoyable read, as it delves into some the quirkier and more entertaining chapters in photographic history."― British Journal for the History of Science

"A solid and very readable work of scholarship, drawing widely upon periodicals and other neglected print sources, and happily enhanced with reproductions of the many compelling and curious images that it has uncovered and analyzes."― Journal of British Studies

" Nature Exposed tells us about our past, but has current resonance in our visually based culture and is a timely, interesting, and valuable book."― Technology and Culture

About the Author:

Jennifer Tucker is an associate professor of history, science in society, and gender studies at Wesleyan University. Her work has been published in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Boston Globe.

About this edition

• Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0801879914
• ISBN 13: 9780801879913
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 312