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The Board of Longitude 1714-1828: Science, innovation and empire in the Georgian world

经度委员会 1714-1828 年：格鲁吉亚世界的科学、创新和帝国

基本信息

批准号：
AH/H015914/1
负责人：
Simon Schaffer
金额：
$ 101.38万
依托单位：
University of Cambridge
依托单位国家：
英国
项目类别：
Research Grant
财政年份：
2010
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2010 至无数据
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=AH%2FH015914%2F1
关键词：
Board Longitude 1714 1828 Science

项目摘要

The proposed project will result in the first comprehensive history of the British Board of Longitude, examining its changing role as an influential player in Georgian culture. As a collaboration between the Deparment of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge and the National Maritime Museum (NMM), the project will also have a range of outputs aimed at academic and broader audiences, including exhibitions and displays, talks and events, publications and web resources.The project research will bring together two unique resources. The Board of Longitude papers in Cambridge University Library offer rich but underused evidence of British ingenuity and invention during the industrial revolution. They will be researched alongside the internationally important collection of instruments and other material evidence of the Board's activities at the NMM. The 1714 Longitude Act was a turning point in British history: for the first time the government used legislation to address a specific scientific problem. It offered a £20,000 prize for a practical method of determining longitude at sea, and a Board of Longitude, including leaders of maritime, scientific, academic and commercial networks, was created to judge claims and encourage invention. The Board operated until the nineteenth century with major effects on innovation, creativity, and state and commercial patronage systems. Yet there has been no major assessment of this significant institution. Our detailed study will address fundamental questions about Georgian science and society, examining the culture of invention and the notion of precision during this period of industrial progress and commercial revolution. Its findings will help to reassess histories of the long eighteenth century.The research will concentrate on two key themes:a) Precision, patronage, instrumentation and the stateThe Board's novel role as a semi-governmental organisation encouraging creativity and innovation is an early instance of state intervention in science and technology. Surviving materials reveal the creativity fostered: not just successful schemes but also those considered impracticable. The Board's members and activities placed it within wide-ranging political, commercial and scientific networks, ensuring wide influence.b) Field trials, navigation, exploration and international networksInnovative navigational technologies and techniques needed long-distance sea trials. This linked the Board with such bodies as the Admiralty and influential trading corporations, including the East India Company. Two methods for finding longitude were developed by the 1760s, yet the Board's work continued until 1828, with a changing remit in a period of political upheaval and commercial expansion. The Board itself gained influence in the formation of voyages of exploration, notably expansion into the Pacific, the search for the Northwest Passage, and mapping stars in the southern hemisphere. While the Department of the History and Philosophy of Science provides the ideal academic context within which to carry out this project, the NMM provides both an important complementary context through its collections and staff expertise and an ideal location from which to disseminate the project findings through displays and temporary exhibitions and through related activities. These will include the exploitation of the project results within the Museum's successful learning programme, which offers activities for formal and informal learners, and enhancing access to the Museum's collections and research for users worldwide through related publications, media coverage and web resources.

拟议的项目将导致英国经度委员会的第一个全面的历史，研究其作为格鲁吉亚文化中有影响力的球员不断变化的作用。作为剑桥大学科学史与科学哲学系与国家海事博物馆（NMM）之间的合作项目，该项目还将有一系列面向学术界和更广泛受众的成果，包括展览和展示、讲座和活动、出版物和网络资源。剑桥大学图书馆的经度委员会文件提供了丰富但未充分利用的证据，证明了英国在工业革命期间的独创性和发明。它们将与国际上重要的文书集和委员会在NMM活动的其他物证一起进行研究。1714年的经度法案是英国历史上的一个转折点：政府第一次利用立法来解决一个具体的科学问题。它为海上确定经度的实用方法提供了20，000英镑的奖金，并成立了一个经度委员会，包括海事，科学，学术和商业网络的领导人，以判断索赔并鼓励发明。该委员会一直运作到世纪，对创新、创造力以及国家和商业赞助体系产生了重大影响。然而，对这一重要机构没有进行过重大评估。我们的详细研究将解决有关格鲁吉亚科学和社会的基本问题，研究在工业进步和商业革命时期的发明文化和精确度概念。其研究结果将有助于重新评估漫长的18世纪的历史。研究将集中在两个关键主题上：a）精度、赞助、仪器和国家委员会作为一个半政府组织的新颖角色，鼓励创造和创新，是国家干预科学和技术的早期实例。幸存下来的材料揭示了创造力的培养：不仅是成功的计划，也包括那些被认为不可行的计划。委员会的成员和活动使其处于广泛的政治、商业和科学网络之中，确保了广泛的影响力。B）实地试验、航行、勘探和国际网络创新的航行技术和技巧需要长距离海上试验。这使委员会与英国海军部和有影响力的贸易公司，包括东印度公司等机构建立了联系。到18世纪60年代，两种寻找经度的方法被开发出来，但委员会的工作一直持续到1828年，在政治动荡和商业扩张的时期，委员会的职权范围不断变化。该委员会本身在探索航行的形成中获得了影响力，特别是扩展到太平洋，寻找西北航道，以及绘制南半球的恒星。虽然科学的历史和哲学的部门提供了理想的学术环境内进行这个项目，NMM提供了通过其收藏和工作人员的专业知识和理想的位置，从它传播项目的结果通过显示和临时展览和通过相关活动的一个重要的补充环境。这将包括在博物馆的成功学习方案中利用项目成果，该方案为正式和非正式学习者提供活动，并通过相关出版物、媒体报道和网络资源，使世界各地的用户更容易获得博物馆的收藏品和研究成果。