Hunt Imperial Science

Cable Telegraphy and Electrical Physics in the Victorian British Empire
Erscheinungsjahr 2021
ISBN: 978-1-108-90605-0
Verlag: Cambridge University Press
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 0 Seiten

Reihe: Science in History

In the second half of the nineteenth century, British firms and engineers built, laid, and ran a vast global network of submarine telegraph cables. For the first time, cities around the world were put into almost instantaneous contact, with profound effects on commerce, international affairs, and the dissemination of news. Science, too, was strongly affected, as cable telegraphy exposed electrical researchers to important new phenomena while also providing a new and vastly larger market for their expertise. By examining the deep ties that linked the cable industry to work in electrical physics in the nineteenth century - culminating in James Clerk Maxwell's formulation of his theory of the electromagnetic field - Bruce J. Hunt sheds new light both on the history of the Victorian British Empire and on the relationship between science and technology.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Hunt, Bruce J.

Fachgebiete

• Technische Wissenschaften Technik Allgemein Technikgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Wissenschafts- und Universitätsgeschichte
• Technische Wissenschaften Elektronik | Nachrichtentechnik Nachrichten- und Kommunikationstechnik
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften: Allgemeines Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften, Formalen Wissenschaften & Technik
• Technische Wissenschaften Elektronik | Nachrichtentechnik Elektronik
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Europäische Länder

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Prologue. 'An imperial science'; 1. 'An ill-understood effect of induction': telegraphy and field theory in Victorian Britain; 2. Wildman Whitehouse, William Thomson, and the first Atlantic cable; 3. Redeeming failure: the joint committee investigation; 4. Units and standards: the ohm is where the art is; 5. The ohm, the speed of light, and Maxwell's theory of the electromagnetic field; 6. To rule the waves: Britain's cable empire and the making of 'Maxwell's equations'; Epilogue. Full circle.

Über Autor(innen)

Hunt, Bruce J.
Bruce J. Hunt is Associate Professor at the University of Texas, Austin.