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Contents
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About this book
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.
Contents
`Nature' and measurement in 18th-century France; The image of science as a threat: Burke versus Priestley and the `Philosophic Revolution'; A practical perspective on Joseph Priestley as a pneumatic chemist; Lavoisier - a neglected savant?; Explicit qualifications as a criterion for membership of the Royal Society: a historical review; The development of a professional career in science in France; Scientific credentials: record of publications in the assessment of qualifications for election to the French Academie des Sciences; Assessment by peers in 19th-century France: the manuscript reports on candidates for election to the Academie des Sciences; The emergence of research grants within the prize system of the French Academy of Sciences, 1795-1914; History of science in a national context; Science and the Franco-Prussian war; Aspects of international scienctific collaboration and organisation before 1900; Index.
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