Dutch Skies, Global Laws: The British Creation of “Buys Ballot’s Law”

History of Scienc

The Reviews of Leviathan and the Air-Pump: A Survey

Leviathan and the Air-Pump has come to be viewed as one of the most influential books in the history of science. In the first reviews that appeared after its publication, it was anticipated that the book would generate discussion for decades to come. The early critics were right: the book was full of ingredients for debate, waiting to spark a reaction. The story involved three of Europe’s most prominent natural philosophers in the seventeenth century: Robert Boyle, Thomas Hobbes, and (in a smaller role) Christiaan Huygens. Its subject matter was the new “big science” instrument of its day, the air-pump. It dealt with the emergence of “the experimental method” as a systematic means of producing natural knowledge. And, finally, the story featured two competing ways of resolving disputes over knowledge claims and ways to achieve assent. While a few commentators merely summarized the book, others foresaw at once that it would have quite an impact on the history of science as well as on neighboring fields like the sociology, philosophy, and anthropology of science. In this survey I aim to identify the major themes that critics put forward in reviews of the volume over the first six years after its publication and to detail some points made under each theme

Rulers of the Winds: How academics came to dominate the science of the weather, 1830-1870

Lunteren, F.H. van [Promotor]Davids, C.A. [Promotor

Building Networks for Science: Conflict and Cooperation in Nineteenth-Century Global Marine Studies

In the nineteenth-century globalizing world of colonial expansion and maritime trade, systematic study of ocean currents and winds became of increased concern in various seafaring nations. Both naval officers and university professors engaged in maritime meteorological and hydrographic research. In order to attract the attention of the state and obtain support for establishment of national scientific institutes, university professors teamed up with naval officers in building networks for maritime data collection, thus connecting practical utility to academic credentials. This paper looks into the combined efforts of the U.S. Navy lieutenant M. F. Maury and the Dutch naval officer M. H. Jansen in organizing the 1853 International Maritime Conference in Brussels, which aimed to develop a worldwide system of uniform atmospheric and marine observations. Such efforts, however, amounted to walking a tightrope between mutual interests and personal rivalries. The alliance between elite scientists and naval officers proved to be only temporary. Once the meteorological institutes were established, academically trained meteorologists gradually marginalized the role of naval officers in scientific research at the institutes, thereby establishing and securing their authority in maritime science