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Sympathetic Attractions : Magnetic Practices, Beliefs, and Symbolism in Eighteenth-Century England / Patricia Fara.

By: Material type: TextTextSeries: Princeton Legacy Library ; 342Publisher: Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, [2014]Copyright date: ©1996Edition: Course BookDescription: 1 online resource (342 p.) : 44 halftones 2 tablesContent type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9780691606071
  • 9781400864362
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 306.4/5 23
Other classification:
  • online - DeGruyter
Online resources: Available additional physical forms:
  • Issued also in print.
Contents:
Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- FIGURES AND TABLES -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- ABBREVIATIONS -- INTRODUCTION -- CHAPTER ONE. Mapping Enlightenment England: Practitioners and Philosophers -- CHAPTER TWO. "A Treasure of Hidden Vertues": Marketing Natural Philosophy -- CHAPTER THREE. The Direction of Invention: Setting a New Course for Compasses -- CHAPTER FOUR. An Attractive Empire: Mapping Terrestrial Magnetism -- CHAPTER FIVE. Measuring Power: Patterns in Experimental Natural Philosophy -- CHAPTER SIX God's Mysterious Creation: The Divine Attraction of Natural Knowledge -- CHAPTER SEVEN. A Powerful Language: Images of Nature and the Nature of Science -- CONCLUSION -- APPENDIX. Magnetic Longitude Schemes -- NOTES -- BIBLIOGRAPHY -- INDEX -- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Summary: In this interdisciplinary study of eighteenth-century England, Patricia Fara explores how natural philosophers constructed magnetism as a science, appropriating the skills and knowledge of experienced navigators. For people of this period, magnetic phenomena reverberated with the symbolism of occult mystery, sexual attraction, and universal sympathies; in this maritime nation, magnetic instruments such as navigational compasses heralded imperial expansion, commercial gain, and scientific progress. By analyzing such multiple associations, Fara reconstructs cultural interactions in the days just prior to the creation of disciplinary science. Not only does this illustrated book provide a kaleidoscopic view of a changing society, but it also portrays the emergence of public science.Linking this rise in interest to the utility and mysteriousness of magnetism, Fara organizes her discussion into themes, including commercialization, imperialism, instruments and invention, the role of language, attitudes toward the past, and the relationship between religion and natural philosophy. Fara shows that natural philosophers, proclaiming themselves as the only true experts on magnetism, actively participated in massive transformations of English life. In their bids for public recognition as elite specialists, they engaged in controversies that resonated with religious, economic, moral, gender, and political implications. These struggles for social and scientific authority in the eighteenth century provide the background for better understanding the cultural topography of modern society.Originally published in 1996.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number URL Status Notes Barcode
eBook eBook Biblioteca "Angelicum" Pont. Univ. S.Tommaso d'Aquino Nuvola online online - DeGruyter (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Online access Not for loan (Accesso limitato) Accesso per gli utenti autorizzati / Access for authorized users (dgr)9781400864362

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- FIGURES AND TABLES -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- ABBREVIATIONS -- INTRODUCTION -- CHAPTER ONE. Mapping Enlightenment England: Practitioners and Philosophers -- CHAPTER TWO. "A Treasure of Hidden Vertues": Marketing Natural Philosophy -- CHAPTER THREE. The Direction of Invention: Setting a New Course for Compasses -- CHAPTER FOUR. An Attractive Empire: Mapping Terrestrial Magnetism -- CHAPTER FIVE. Measuring Power: Patterns in Experimental Natural Philosophy -- CHAPTER SIX God's Mysterious Creation: The Divine Attraction of Natural Knowledge -- CHAPTER SEVEN. A Powerful Language: Images of Nature and the Nature of Science -- CONCLUSION -- APPENDIX. Magnetic Longitude Schemes -- NOTES -- BIBLIOGRAPHY -- INDEX -- ABOUT THE AUTHOR

restricted access online access with authorization star

http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec

In this interdisciplinary study of eighteenth-century England, Patricia Fara explores how natural philosophers constructed magnetism as a science, appropriating the skills and knowledge of experienced navigators. For people of this period, magnetic phenomena reverberated with the symbolism of occult mystery, sexual attraction, and universal sympathies; in this maritime nation, magnetic instruments such as navigational compasses heralded imperial expansion, commercial gain, and scientific progress. By analyzing such multiple associations, Fara reconstructs cultural interactions in the days just prior to the creation of disciplinary science. Not only does this illustrated book provide a kaleidoscopic view of a changing society, but it also portrays the emergence of public science.Linking this rise in interest to the utility and mysteriousness of magnetism, Fara organizes her discussion into themes, including commercialization, imperialism, instruments and invention, the role of language, attitudes toward the past, and the relationship between religion and natural philosophy. Fara shows that natural philosophers, proclaiming themselves as the only true experts on magnetism, actively participated in massive transformations of English life. In their bids for public recognition as elite specialists, they engaged in controversies that resonated with religious, economic, moral, gender, and political implications. These struggles for social and scientific authority in the eighteenth century provide the background for better understanding the cultural topography of modern society.Originally published in 1996.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Issued also in print.

Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

In English.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 30. Aug 2021)