Imperial Science

Cable Telegraphy and Electrical Physics in the Victorian British Empire

AvBruce J. Hunt

Inbunden, Engelska, 2021

Del i serien Science in History

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Beskrivning

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.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum:2021-01-07
Mått:235 x 160 x 20 mm
Vikt:600 g
Format:Inbunden
Språk:Engelska
Serie:Science in History
Antal sidor:322
Förlag:Cambridge University Press
ISBN:9781108830669

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Mer om författaren

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

Recensioner i media

'Lucid, brilliantly well-informed and replete with fresh insights, Imperial Science is destined to be an indispensable classic. Bruce J. Hunt gives us a rich account of how radical developments in cable telegraphy and the theory of electromagnetism were intertwined, with profound consequences for the everyday lives of millions of people all over the world.' Graham Farmelo, Churchill College, University of Cambridge

Innehållsförteckning

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.