Date of Award
Spring 4-14-2017
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
History
First Advisor
Professor Anton Matytsin
Second Advisor
Professor Bruce Kinzer
Abstract
Historians of science widely consider the Victorian era to be a period of dramatic change in the structures of scientific institutions. In Britain, science faculties at universities expanded, especially in chemistry and physics, universities built laboratories for experimentation and teaching, and the number of specialist societies grew exponentially. This thesis focuses on the importance of the specialist societies, looking specifically at the Royal Astronomical Society. It uses the life of Richard Christopher Carrington, a wealthy amateur astronomer, to demonstrate how the environments and structures of the specialist societies produced a highly-socialized landscape of science. From the 1850s to the 1870s, social networks in the Royal Astronomical Society influenced the careers of scientists as well as the science published by the Royal Astronomical Society by fostering gradual professionalization, society politics (often calls for reform), and increased factionalism that occurred in the 1860s due to the rising influence of a younger generation.
Recommended Citation
Femia, Vincent, "An Amateur in Decline: Richard Christopher Carrington and the Rise of the Specialist Society in Victorian Britain" (2017). Honors Theses. 182.
https://digital.kenyon.edu/honorstheses/182
Rights Statement
All rights reserved. This copy is provided to the Kenyon Community solely for individual academic use. For any other use, please contact the copyright holder for permission.