Dissertation Research: The Country House as Laboratory

论文研究：乡间别墅作为实验室

• 批准号: 0094442
• 负责人: Sally Kohlstedt
• 金额: $ 1.13万
• 依托单位: University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2001
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2001-01-15 至 2001-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0094442&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Dissertation; Research; Country; House; Laboratory

This is a dissertation research study of science and scientific practices within and beyond late-Victorian and Edwardian country houses. Country house laboratories, observatories, botanical gardens, and museums thrived well into the last third of the nineteenth century, challenging in some ways the middle class visions for professional science put forth in mid-century by figures such as T.H. Huxley, J. Tyndall, and N. Lockyer. The production of scientific knowledge in these private contexts involved a complex network of aristocratic intellectuals, distinct country house values shaped by characteristic religious, political, and social norms, and a social process of research involving collaboration of family members, hired staff, and visiting scientific colleagues. The results of research in these sites contributed significantly to scientific knowledge whilst earning practitioners high reputations among their peers. Despite the political and social conservatism often found in these circles, gentlewomen experienced a high degree of flexibility to pursue their intellectual interests and make original contributions in science during a time when new professional norms, undervalued their participation in more public arenas. Rich collections of documents pertaining to the work and affairs of scientific aristocratic families reveal in detail the operations of these country house laboratories amidst domestic and professional norms. Several well-documented cases demonstrate how such contexts proved to be crucial both for the construction of scientific knowledge and the influence of aristocratic values on new institutions of science. Particularly influential were the scientific households managed by the Rosses, Balfours, Rayleighs, and Sidgwicks. The research funded allows the researcher to undertake a detailed analysis of these cases, as well as several others involving families in related same circles, in order to demonstrate the complicated networks of scientific practices shaped by country house norms which had significant consequences for gender roles and scientific institutional developments. This study thus reinterprets our historical understanding of the developments in late-Victorian science, about which historians have more often emphasized new university and industrial research facilities. The study will show the continuing importance of privately sponsored research well into the Edwardian period. It promises a broader impact both for the public understanding of science, as in the museums at Darwin's Down House and Lord Rosse's Birr Castle, and for a fuller understanding of the way in which the sciences-especially the physical science-have become gendered, relevant to initiatives that encourage women's successes in the sciences. Funds will allow the researcher to conduct archival research of collections still largely unexplored in England, Scotland, and Ireland.

这是一篇关于维多利亚晚期和爱德华七世时期乡村住宅内外的科学和科学实践的论文研究。乡间别墅实验室、天文台、植物园和博物馆一直繁荣到世纪的最后三分之一，在某种程度上挑战了中产阶级在世纪中期提出的专业科学的愿景，这些愿景是由T.H. Huxley，J.廷德尔，and N.洛克耶。在这些私人环境中，科学知识的产生涉及到一个复杂的贵族知识分子网络，由独特的宗教、政治和社会规范塑造的独特的乡村价值观，以及一个涉及家庭成员、雇佣人员和来访的科学同事合作的社会研究过程。在这些网站的研究成果作出了重大贡献的科学知识，同时赚取从业者在同行中的声誉很高。尽管在这些圈子里经常发现政治和社会保守主义，但在新的职业规范低估了她们在更多公共领域的参与的时候，淑女们经历了高度的灵活性，可以追求她们的知识兴趣，并在科学领域做出原创性贡献。 有关科学贵族家庭的工作和事务的丰富文件集详细揭示了这些国家的房子实验室在国内和专业规范中的运作。几个有据可查的案例表明，这种背景对于科学知识的构建和贵族价值观对新科学机构的影响至关重要。特别有影响力的是科学家庭管理的罗斯，巴尔弗斯，Raylewills，和Sidgwicks。资助的研究使研究人员能够对这些案例以及其他几个涉及相关相同圈子的家庭的案例进行详细分析，以展示由乡村房屋规范形成的复杂的科学实践网络，这些规范对性别角色和科学机构的发展产生了重大影响。因此，这项研究重新解释了我们对维多利亚时代后期科学发展的历史理解，历史学家更经常强调新的大学和工业研究设施。这项研究将显示私人赞助的研究在爱德华七世时期的持续重要性。它将对公众理解科学产生更广泛的影响，例如在达尔文的唐屋和罗斯勋爵的比尔城堡的博物馆中，以及更全面地了解科学，特别是物理科学，如何变得性别化，与鼓励妇女在科学领域取得成功的倡议有关。资金将允许研究人员进行档案研究的收藏仍然在很大程度上未开发的英格兰，苏格兰和爱尔兰。