Gunpowder and the rise of early modern science

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Francis Bacon's (1561-1626) motto 'knowledge is power' is well known. It aptly captures the application of scientific theorizing to technological solutions. Bacon pioneered a new method of science which called for the joining of theory and practice. Yet despite its impact on the emerging new sciences, the knowledge-power relation, as projected by Bacon and interpreted by his followers, is not well understood. In particular, few studies have examined in detail the synthesis of scientific theory and military practice during the early modern era. The purpose of this project is to investigate the role of gunpowder in early modern science. Gunpowder technology offers an especially fruitful locus for inquiry as it so vividly illustrates Bacon's belief that knowledge of nature's hidden forces will allow us to control its marvellous power.To stimulate a more analytical approach to questions of military practice and scientific theorizing, this project aims to recover and interpret the role of gunpowder in the rise of early modern science. Using printed sources, together with historical reconstruction of early modern gunpowder experiments, the project student will seek, as a primary aim, to throw new light on the relationship between science and gunpowder technology. The combination of RA expertise with University of Leeds specialisms will illuminate the synthesis of scientific theory and military practice in this formative period. This project has been explicitly designed to partner with the RA where appropriate technical and safety expertise with gunpowder exists to undertake historical reconstructions.The project student will, as a second aim, explore the interaction in the early modern world between natural philosophers concerned with causal and theoretical ideas about nature and artisans, powdermakers and craftsmen concerned with trade processes and the manual arts. The sociologist Edgar Zilsel was among the first to point to the traditional skills of artisans as being central to the emergence of natural science. Through a focus on gunpowder, the project explores the fluid boundaries between scholars and craftsmen, between pure and applied science. Historical analysis will be aided by replication of experiments and craft practices at the RA, with reference to, for example, Leonardo da Vinci's (c. 1508) and Robert Hooke's (1663) schemes for determining the force of gunpowder. Gunpowder experiment replication has the capacity to contribute decisively to the ongoing debates concerning artisan-science relations in this formative period.A third aim will be to investigate why gunpowder was at the centre of a number of heated debates among the founder members of the Royal Society. In the mid-1660s, the Royal Society (the oldest scientific institution) began promoting Bacon's project, seeking knowledge of the natural world through observation and experiment. Bacon's stipulation that scholars write descriptions of trades called 'histories' to provide information for the new science was adopted as one of the Royal Society's main concerns in its early years. Thomas Henshaw presented a 'History of Saltpetre and Gunpowder' to the Royal Society. This history was fiercely attacked by Henry Stubbe, who argued it was false. To what extent was Stubbe's attack justified? Does Henshaw's history of gunpowder live up to Bacon's concept of a history? How does Henshaw's history compare with other histories of gunpowder? Addressing both the technical issues and wider dynamics of conflict, the project student will seek to answer these questions.Two main project benefits are envisaged: first, a major contribution to our understanding of the relationship between theoretical abstraction and practical application as it featured in early modern experimental science; and second, via an online exhibition and the outreach media of the RA, greater pub