‘Applied science’ in nineteenth-century Britain: public discourse and the creation of meaning, 1817–1876

‘Applied science’ has long been a competitor with the concept of technology for the space between theory and praxis. This paper explores how the concept emerged in mid-nineteenth-century Britain through public sphere discussions in a cycle of rhetoric that linked the press, the development of new educational institutions and the interpretation of industrial change. The recounting and reprinting of heroic narratives of achievement served to cement alliances between ‘practical men’ and ‘men of science’ by proclaiming a respectable subject of common interest to which both could be associated. Narratives of applied science were drawn on in the process of institutional change. A key role was played by editors and business proprietors in local contexts; their interest in applied science stimulated the formation of new universities aimed at providing new forms of technical education. The use of the concept of ‘applied science’ to describe the space between science and practice challenged the traditional notion of ‘rule of thumb’ as a characterisation of shop work. With its connotations relating to both past and future, the term served to structure time as well as science.     

Chronicle for 1993

Abstract

Theory is not a goal in itself but a means of enriching the history of cartography by stimulating new research questions and objectives. In this paper the concept of ‘transparent maps’ (carriers of an image of the external reality of the world) and ‘opaque maps’ is introduced. The notion is approached structurally (standards of graphical representation, drawing, geometry, text); through the sociology of the map (map makers, institutions, the public); and through seeing maps in their cultural and historical context (an approach which raises issues of the definitional boundaries of the history of cartography and which is arguably one of the most stimulating perspectives today as fostered by, in particular, contributors to the History of Cartography). Finally, attention is drawn to three important topics for the research agenda: the links between maps and culture; maps as a language of communication and as instruments of power; and the links between perception, logic and mnemonics.     

The Parthenon Marbles as icons of nationalism in nineteenth‐century Britain

Theories of nationalism place native culture at the core of national self‐fashioning. What explains a state's adoption of foreign objects to sustain national identity? In this paper, I argue that the incorporation of the Parthenon Marbles into British public life is an early example of supranational nationalism. The nineteenth‐century ‘art race’ was a competitive field in which European nation‐states vied for prestige. Of the thousands of art trophies that were brought to Britain from Mediterranean and North African countries, the Parthenon Marbles were uniquely iconicised. Using data from period newspapers and official documents, I assert that this was because they were assiduously presented as prenational by British authorities. In this way, they belonged simultaneously to no nation, to every nation, and to Britain. The case demonstrates the emergence of a particular form of national distinctiveness that transcended the smallness of particularity and rose to the level of universal civilisation.     

论20世纪初英国现代社会保障制度的初步确立

20世纪初英国逐步建立了现代社会保障制度.贫困和失业等社会问题的严重化和济贫法制度的失效是这一制度建立的根本原因;来自工人阶级的政治压力是其建立的一个重要原因;费边社会主义、集体主义和新自由主义为这一制度的建立提供了理论基础;德国保险型社会保障制度的建立起了先导作用.英国政府通过一系列的社会立法逐步形成了涉及到养老、失业、医疗、儿童等方面比较完善的福利体系,标志着英国现代社会保障制度的初步确立.它是英国社会保障制度史上一次根本性的转折.     

An unknown “Pilot” by Hessel Gerritsz,dating from 1612

Abstract

Maps of Africa produced in the sixteenth century relied on Ptolemy for their representation of the unknown heart of the continent. However, another cartographic model, which challenged the classical authority in several respects, became available for the depiction of the African interior. This was the map attributed to Duarte Lopes (Odoardo Lopez) and published by Filippo Pigafetta in 1591. Since contemporary cartographers had no way of verifying which model presented the African interior most realistically, other facts must explain the pre‐eminence of one model over the other.     

OBITUARIES

The crime of Claudius Ptolemy. By Robert R. Newton. The John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London. Pp. 411. Illustrated. Price £15.75.

London map‐sellers 1660–1720. A collection of advertisements for maps placed in the London Gazette 1668–1719 with biographical notes on the map‐sellers. By Sarah Tyacke. Tring, Hertfordshire, Map Collector Publications Limited, 1978. Pp. 160, illustrated. Price £12.

Heinrich Berghaus: der Kartograph von Potsdam. By Gerhard Enmglemann. Halle: Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina, 1977. 411p.: ill.; 24cm. Acta Historica Leopoldina; Nr 10.

Vývoj mapového zobrazení Slovenska [The development of mapping of Slovakia]. By Lubomír Viliam Prikryl. SAV Bratislava, 1977. Pp. 481, illustrated.

John Cary, Engraver, Map, Chart and Print‐Seller and Globe‐Maker 1714 to 1831. By Sir Herbert George Fordham. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1925. Reprinted by Wm. Dawsons &; Sons Ltd. 1976.     

Cordiform Maps since the Sixteenth Century: The Legacy of Nineteenth‐Century Classificatory Systems

The heart‐shaped, or cordiform, maps of the sixteenth century, including those by Oronce Fine, Peter Apian and Gerard Mercator, have long intrigued historians. Most writers have considered the heart shape a product only of mathematics, but some have recently offered other interpretations for the use of the heart. A classificatory system devised by d'Avezac in 1863, however, has impeded our understanding of the cordiform map, particularly in the matter of what is considered to be such a map. The nature of his classification and its reception by other writers since the late nineteenth century are examined in order to elucidate new directions for the study of the use of the heart shape in sixteenth‐century cartography.     

Immigrant Inclusion in the Safety Net: A Framework for Analysis and Effects on Educational Attainment

Across states, there is substantial variation in the degree to which immigrants and their children are offered public assistance. We present a theoretical framework for analyzing the effects of policy decisions about immigrant inclusion. We apply the framework to investigate the effect of the state safety net on educational attainment. We focus on the years following welfare reform in 1996, when states gained considerable autonomy over welfare policy, including decisions about the eligibility of immigrant residents. Leveraging state‐level data from before and after reform, we estimate a difference‐in‐difference model to identify the effect of variation in immigrant inclusivity on educational attainment. We find that when states broaden the inclusivity of the social safety net to immigrants, young Latinos are more likely to graduate from high school. This effect is present beyond the group of Latino residents who receive additional benefits, suggesting that policy decisions about immigrants spill over to broader communities and communicate broader messages about social inclusion to racial and ethnic groups. We find similar patterns among Asian youth, but not among black and non‐Hispanic white youth. We conclude that immigrant inclusion has consequences for the life prospects of the growing population of youth in high‐immigrant ethnic groups.     

Der erste Europäische Straßenatlas

ABSTRACT

Imitations of famous Dutch wall maps originally produced in Amsterdam by F. de Wit and W. J. Blaeu have recently been rediscovered in Italy. In Bologna, in the archive of Opera Pia dei Poveri Vergognosi, is a set of Blaeu's four wall maps of the continents, engraved on new plates by Pietro Todeschi and published by Giuseppe Longhi. The value of the discovery lies in the completeness of the exemplars, which also bear the publisher's imprint and date of publication, hitherto unknown: Europe 1677; Africa 1678; Asia 1679; America 1679/1680(?). An undated version of de Wit's world wall map, also published by Longhi, has come to light in the same archive. A copy of the same map, this time published by Giovanni Giacomo de' Rossi in Rome in 1675, was then found in Modena in the Seminario Metropolitano. Comparison of the two copies has provided a date for Longhi's undated issue; Longhi's map came after de' Rossi's, that is after 1675.