Public Science and Public Policy in Victorian England

About this book

This book comprises nine essays, selected from Roy MacLeod's work on the social history of Victorian science, and is concerned with the analysis of science as a responsibility and opportunity for 19th-century statecraft. It illuminates the origins of environmental regulation, the creation of scientific inspectorates, the reform of scientific institutions, and the association of government with the patronage and support of fundamental research. Above all, it explores several of the ways in which British scientists became 'statesmen in disguise', negotiating interests and professional goals by association with the interests of the state as 'provider' and agent of efficiency in education and in the application of research.

Contents

The Alkali Acts Administration, 1863-84: the emergence of the civil scientist; Government and resource conservation: the Salmon Acts Administration, 1860-86; Science and government in Victorian England: lighthouse illumination and the Board of Trade, 1866-86; Whigs and Savants: reflections on the Reform Movement in the Royal society, 1830-48; Science and the Civil List, 1824-1914; Of medals and men: a reward system in Victorian science, 1826-1914; Science and the Treasury: principles, personalities and policies, 1870-85; The Royal Society and the government grant: notes on the administration of scientific research, 1849-1914; The support of Victorian science: the endowment of research movement in Great Britain, 1868-1900; Index.

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