Industrial Enlightenment

Science, technology and culture in Birmingham and the West Midlands 1760–1820

Peter Jones

• Publisher: Manchester University Press
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN:
  9780719089121
• eBook ISBN:
  9781526130310
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: British History
• Index: History

Industrial Enlightenment explores the transition through which England passed between 1760 and 1820 on the way to becoming the world's first industrialised nation. In drawing attention to the important role played by scientific knowledge, it focuses on a dimension of this transition which is often overlooked by historians.

The book argues that in certain favoured regions, England underwent a process whereby useful knowledge was fused with technological 'know how' to produce the condition described here as Industrial Enlightenment. At the forefront of the process were the natural philosophers who entered into a close and productive relationship with technologists and entrepreneurs. Much of the evidence for this study is drawn from the extraordinary archival record of the activities of Matthew Boulton (1728–1809) and his Soho Manufactory.

The book will appeal to those keen to explore the dynamics of change in eighteenth-century England, and to those with a broad interest in the cultural history of science and technology.

Table of contents

• Industrial Enlightenment: Science, technology and culture in Birmingham and the West Midlands, 1760–1820
• Half Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Figures
• Tables
• Preface and acknowledgements
• 1 The eighteenth-century knowledge economy
• 2 Birmingham and the West Midlands
• 3 The dissemination and validation of experimental science
• 4 The science and technology interface
• 5 Industry, Enlightenment and Dissent
• 6 The Republic of Letters in disarray
• 7 Conclusion
• Bibliography
• Index