This volume treats a remarkable period in the history of science in France. The articles in the first of its two sections, concerned with patronage and institutions, explore the structures that fostered research and the diffusion of scientific and technological knowledge, not only in the great institutions under state control but also in the very different world of the independent academies and the many scientific and industrial societies in Paris and the provinces. The second section focuses on the physical sciences, in particular the physics of heat and the imponderable fluids, and their relations with experimental and technological practice. It contains studies of figures of outstanding importance in the history of French science, including J.H. Lambert, P.S. de Laplace, and Sadi Carnot. Taken together, the articles provide an unusually coherent picture of a nation's science over a period of a century, developing a methodological perspective that unites cognitive and social considerations. Cet ouvrage traite d'une période remarquable de l'histoire scientifique française. Les articles dans la première des deux sections, concernant le mécénat et les institutions, explorent les structures qui encourageaient la recherche et la diffusion des connaissances scientifiques et technologiques; ce, non seulement dans les grandes institutions sous contrà ́le étatique, mais aussi dans le monde très différent des académies indépendantes et des nombreuses sociétés scientifiques et industrielles à Paris et en province. La seconde section porte sur les sciences physiques, en particulier la physique thermique et les fluides impondérables, ainsi que leurs relations avec la pratique expérimentale et technologique. Elle contient des études de grands personnages d'une importance exceptionnelle dans l'histoire de la science française, comprenant: J.H. Lambert, P.S. de Laplace et Sadi Carnot. Dans leur ensemble, ces textes fournissent une image cohérente

This second collection of studies by Maurice Crosland has as a first theme the differences in the style and organisation of scientific activity in Britain and France in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Science was more closely controlled in France, notably by the Paris Academy of Sciences, and the work of provincial amateurs much less prominent than in Britain. The most dramatic change in any branch of science during this period was in chemistry, largely through the work of Lavoisier and his colleagues, the focus of several articles here, and the dominance of this group caused considerable resentment outside France, not least by Joseph Priestley. The issue of authority in science emerges again, within France under the rule of Napoleon, in a study of the exceptional power exercised by the great mathematician Laplace both in theoretical science and in academic politics. This exploration of organisation and power is complemented by a comparative study of the practice of early 'physics' and chemistry and their different reliance on laboratories. This raises the question of whether chemistry provided a model for later experimental work in other sciences, both through the construction of pioneering laboratories and in establishing early schools of research.

This selection of articles is organized around three broad themes: the nature of the governing system in France (’Absolutism’); the political crisis of the mid-17th-century (the ’Fronde’); and the development of royal finance. The author first considers the growth of the French state in its ideological and institutional aspects, then the opposition such developments provoked, much centred on the figure of Cardinal Mazarin. In the last section particular attention is given to fiscal history, including a comparison of mid-18th-century France with the other states of Europe. Professor Bonney would argue that the ’fiscal imperative’, the increased requirements posed by the costs of war, and the long-term consequences of fiscal growth may be seen as one of the decisive factors in the development of the modern state.

This new edition of this highly successful and influential work includes two entirely new chapters - on Europe and the wider world and on the Revolutionary crisis - and is extensively revised throughout. It offers a wide-ranging thematic account of the century, that explores social, cultural and economic topics, as well as giving a clear analysis of the political events. Filled with fascinating detail and unusual examples, this absorbing history of eighteenth-century Europe will bring the period alive to students and teachers alike.

A wide range of the author's previously published papers in the history of science is brought together in this book.The articles, which are mainly concerned with the 18th and 19th centuries, are arranged in three sections: science in the Enlightenment period; science in an institutional context; national and international science. Some of the papers present a broad perspective, others are of a more detailed nature, drawing on the archives of the Paris Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society of London. An original interpretation of the career of Priestley is followed by a historiographical article on Lavoisier. Papers with a more social approach include subjects such as the professionalisation of science, peer review, and science and war. It is argued that science became a profession in France long before it did in Britain. France also created an important precedent in the academic world in demanding publications of research as credentials.

This volume is concerned with the geological sciences in the 18th century, with special emphasis on France and French scientists. A first focus is on the pioneering geologist Nicolas Desmarest, whose investigations in Auvergne and Italy (among other places) had important consequences in geological theory and practice. Desmarest emerges as a figure of intriguing complexity and refined methodological convictions, defying facile interpretation in terms of, for instance, a simple polarity between vulcanism and neptunism. Widening his inquiry beyond Desmarest, Professor Taylor also endeavors to recover key elements of the presuppositions and thought-patterns of Enlightenment geologists, and to discern how geological investigation worked during this formative period. In the era that modern geological science was beginning to take form, many of the participants are seen as struggling to define their scientific objectives and procedures by drawing from the competing frameworks of physique or natural philosophy, descriptive natural history, and antiquarian scholarship or developmental history. One of the articles (Reflections on Natural Laws in Eighteenth-Century Geology) appears here for the first time in English.

The focus of this volume by Professor Russell is the history of organic chemistry, which arose improbably out of early speculations about the construction of chemical compounds, and in particular their electrochemical nature. The rise of electrochemistry and the work of Berzelius were critical in this regard, and receive much attention in the first few chapters in this book. Aspects of the contributions of Frankland (fully explored elsewhere) and those of Kekulê and Hofmann are considered, together with the miscellaneous functions of organic synthesis and the origins of conformational analysis. Questions of chemical organisation are germane to the whole sequence of events and are briefly summarized before the whole last hundred years of organic chemistry are placed in historical perspective.

In this book, Michael R. Lynn analyses the popularisation of science in Enlightenment France. He examines the content of popular science, the methods of dissemination, the status of the popularisers and the audience, and the settings for dissemination and appropriation. Lynn introduces individuals like Jean-Antoine Nollet, who made a career out of applying electric shocks to people, and Perrin, who used his talented dog to lure customers to his physics show. He also examines scientifically oriented clubs like Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier’s Musée de Monsieur which provided locations for people interested in science. Phenomena such as divining rods, used to find water and ores as well as to solve crimes; and balloons, the most spectacular of all types of popular science, demonstrate how people made use of their new knowledge. Lynn’s study provides a clearer understanding of the role played by science in the Republic of Letters and the participation of the general population in the formation of public opinion on scientific matters.

Excerpts from scientific writings that illustrate the evolution of the scientific article from its origin in 1665 till today. Includes commentaries explaining the context and communication strategy.

While British soldiers and settlers colonised Australia, French scientists continued to explore its coastlines and study its strange flora and fauna. Laperouse and Labillardiere, Baudin and Bougainville and others left they won lighter marks on the country in the name of human knowledge. This is their story - deeply researched and richly imagined by zoologist and award-winning science writer Danielle Clode. Voyages to the South Seas is an exhilarating expedition through a key period in the European exploration of the Pacific and in the history of science. Winner of the Victorian Premier's Nettie Palmer Prize for Nonfiction