The Creed of Science in Victorian England;

MacLeod, R. M.

ISBN 10: 0860786692 / ISBN 13: 9780860786696

Published by Ashgate Variorum, Aldershot, Ashgate Variorum, 2000, 2000

About this Item

HARDBACK blue cloth with gilt lettering on spine and front frontispiece 12 essays with individual pagination 152mm x 228mm (6 x 9") as new.

Seller Inventory # 17465

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Creed of Science in Victorian England
• Publisher: Ashgate Variorum, Aldershot, Ashgate Variorum, 2000
• Publication Date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0860786692
• ISBN 13: 9780860786696
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Fine
• Seller catalogs:
  • Science

About this title

Synopsis

The nineteenth century, which saw the triumph of the idea of progress and improvement, saw also the triumph of science as a political and cultural force. In England, as science and its methods claimed privilege and space, its language acquired the vocabulary of religion. The new ’creed’ of science embraced what John Tyndall called the ’scientific movement’; it was, in the language of T.H. Huxley, a militant creed. The ’march’ of invention, the discoveries of chemistry, and the wonders of steam and electricity culminated in a crusade against ignorance and unbelief. It was a creed that looked to its own apostolic succession from Copernicus, Galileo and the martyrs of the ’scientific revolution’. Yet, it was a creed whose doctrines were divisive, and whose convictions resisted. Alongside arguments for materialism, utility, positivism, and evolutionary naturalism, persisted reservations about the nature of man, the role of ethics, and the limits of scientific method. These essays discuss leading strategists in the scientific movement of late-Victorian England. At the same time, they show how ’science established’ served not only the scientific community, but also the interests of imperial and colonial powers.

About the Author

Roy M. MacLeod