Volta science and culture in the age of enlightenment

Giuliano Pancaldi

396 pages, parution le 26/06/2003

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Résumé

Giuliano Pancaldi sets us within the cosmopolitan cultures of Enlightenment Europe to tell the story of Alessandro Volta--the brilliant man whose name is forever attached to electromotive force. Providing fascinating details, many previously unknown, Pancaldi depicts Volta as an inventor who used his international network of acquaintances to further his quest to harness the power of electricity. This is the story of a man who sought recognition as a natural philosopher and ended up with an invention that would make an everyday marvel of electric lighting.

Examining the social and scientific contexts in which Volta operated--as well as Europe's reception of his most famous invention--Volta also offers a sustained inquiry into long-term features of science and technology as they developed in the early age of electricity. Pancaldi considers the voltaic cell, or battery, as a case study of Enlightenment notions and their consequences, consequences that would include the emergence of the "scientist" at the expense of the "natural philosopher."

Throughout, Pancaldi highlights the complex intellectual, technological, and social ferment that ultimately led to our industrial societies. In so doing, he suggests that today's supporters and critics of Enlightenment values underestimate the diversity and contingency inherent in science and technology--and may be at odds needlessly.

Both an absorbing biography and a study of scientific and technological creativity, this book offers new insights into the legacies of the Enlightenment while telling the remarkable story of the now-ubiquitous battery.

Introduction
The making of a natural philosopher
Enlightenment science south of the Alps
The electrophorus
Volta's science of electricity
The cosmopolitan network
The battery
Appropriating invention
The scientist as hero
Conclusion: science, technology, and contingency

Notes
Bibliography
Index

L'auteur - Giuliano Pancaldi

Giuliano Pancaldi is Professor of the History of Science at the University of Bologna. His books include Darwin in Italy: Science across Cultural Frontiers.

Caractéristiques techniques

	PAPIER
Éditeur(s)	Princeton University Press
Auteur(s)	Giuliano Pancaldi
Parution	26/06/2003
Nb. de pages	396
Format	16 x 24
Couverture	Relié
Poids	740g
Intérieur	Noir et Blanc
EAN13	9780691096858
ISBN13	978-0-691-09685-8