In this book, Michael R. Lynn analyses the popularisation of science in Enlightenment France. He examines the content of popular science, the methods of dissemination, the status of the popularisers and the audience, and the settings for dissemination and appropriation. Lynn introduces individuals like Jean-Antoine Nollet, who made a career out of applying electric shocks to people, and Perrin, who used his talented dog to lure customers to his physics show. He also examines scientifically oriented clubs like Jean-Francois Pilatre de Rozier's Musee de Monsieur which provided locations for people interested in science. Phenomena such as divining rods, used to find water and ores as well as to solve crimes; and balloons, the most spectacular of all types of popular science, demonstrate how people made use of their new knowledge.
Lynn's study provides a clearer understanding of the role played by science in the Republic of Letters and the participation of the general population in the formation of public opinion on scientific matters.
- ISBN10 0719073731
- ISBN13 9780719073731
- Publish Date 30 August 2006
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 14 February 2012
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Manchester University Press
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 192
- Language English