Published jointly by
The William Herschel Society
and
Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution

Innovation & Discovery
Bath and the Rise of Science

A new book edited by Dr Peter J.L. Wallis.
Foreword by Sir Patrick Moore FRS
and Dr. Allan Chapman (Wadham College, Oxford)

“Now the whole scope of Bath Science is opened in this engaging book. I savoured it one chapter per day, delighted by the confluence of ideas that flowed through this city” 
– Dava Sobel

Available now ● Hardback, 240 pages and 100 figures, with colour plates ● ISBN 978 0 948975 82 0
 

HOW ONE CITY, ITS PEOPLE AND ITS VISITORS CHANGED THE COURSE OF HISTORY

Fashionable Bath grew hand-in-hand with scientific Bath; now the story of those who helped shape our lives and invent devices used the world over is told in this fascinating new book. Innovation and Discovery embraces an amazing range of topics: medicine, astronomy, engineering, natural history, chemistry, geology, and much more besides.

From the first English scientist to the invention of photography, Innovation and Discovery tells the stories of the people and their ideas. Local scientific organisations are featured too. A special biography and gazetteer section, with over 170 entries, brings out the breadth of scientific activity in Bath. Notable names featured include the Herschels, William Smith, Brunel, Priestley, Adelard, Parry, Jenyns, Horstmann, Fox Talbot, and many more.

You can order now by post from the BRLSI, with payment by cheque or debit/credit card. World-wide delivery is available.

Click here for a printable order form (opens in a new browser window)
 

MORE ABOUT INNOVATION AND DISCOVERY - BATH AND THE RISE OF SCIENCE

Chapters:

PART I : PEOPLE

1 Airs and Waters: The Hot Springs and Bath Chemistry. Peter Ford and Roger Rolls

2 Looking for Evidence: Medicine in Georgian Bath. Roger Rolls

3 Of Canals and Quarries: The Bath Geologists. Matt Williams

4 Telescopes and Astronomy: The Herschels in Bath. Francis Ring

5 Bath Naturalists: Apothecary to Zoologist. Robert Randall

6 Drawing with Light: Fox Talbot and Bath Photography. Peter Ford, Roger Watson and Mike Chapman

7 City and Landscape: The Mapping of Bath. Mike Chapman

8 Trenches and Tunnels: Discovering Roman Bath. Marek Lewcun

9 Providing Infrastructure: Bath and Civil Engineering. Angus Buchanan

10 Machines and Industry: Engineering and Invention in Bath. Stuart Burroughs

PART II : ORGANISATIONS

11 Science Lecturing in Georgian Bath. Trevor Fawcett

12 Bath Scientific Societies and Institutions. Trevor Fawcett

13 The Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution Reborn. Robert Draper

14 The British Association in Bath. Trevor Fawcett and Colin Axon

15 University Science and Technology in Bath. Angus Buchanan

Authors:

Dr. Colin J. Axon, who works on sustainable energy use and technologies in Oxford University’s Department of Engineering, led a team from the Bristol and Bath branch of the BA that created the Bath Scientific Heritage Trail in 1997.

Prof. R. Angus Buchanan is both Emeritus Professor of the History of Technology at the University of Bath and Honorary Director of the University’s Centre for the History of Technology. He has written on industrial archaeology, engineering history, and I.K. Brunel.

Stuart Burroughs, Director of the Museum of Bath at Work, is Chairman of the Bristol Industrial Archaeology Society. He has lectured widely on the commercial and industrial development of Bath and is author of Stothert and Pitt: Cranemakers to the World.

Michael C. Chapman, Historic Landscape Surveyor and former Cartographic Surveyor (Royal Engineers), produces guides and articles on the topographical history of Bath, published by the Survey of Old Bath.

Robert C. Draper, experimental officer in the Department of Physics at the University of Bath, devotes considerable energy to the day-to-day running of the BRLSI. He received an M.B.E. for “services to the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution” in the 2005 New Year Honours List.

Trevor Fawcett, a former university librarian, has published widely on art history, librarianship, and local history - especially that of Norwich and Bath.

Dr. Peter J. Ford, recently retired from the Physics Department of the University of Bath, is Chair of the History of Physics Group of the Institute of Physics. He received an M.B.E. for “services to higher education and to science” in the 2008 New Year Honours List.

Marek Lewcun worked for Bath Archaeological Trust for 23 years, employed on many different excavations in and around the city. He is an independent consultant, a specialist in clay pipes, and a senior archaeologist for the Museum of London.

Robert D. Randall, a former systems analyst, is chair of the collections sub-committee at the BRLSI and has a lifelong interest in natural history.

Prof. E. Francis J. Ring Professor of imaging science at the University of Glamorgan, is a long-serving former chairman of the William Herschel Society and a trustee of the William Herschel Museum of Astronomy. He is a specialist in infrared thermal imaging, keenly interested in the history of science and of medicine.

Dr. Roger L. Rolls has written and edited books and articles on the history of medicine. He is a retired general practitioner with a particular interest in the history of medicine in Bath.

Dr. Peter J. L. Wallis, a retired reader in computing from the University of Bath, edited an academic journal and several previous books, mostly concerned with aspects of computer software.

Roger C. Watson is the Curator of the Fox Talbot Museum in Lacock, Wiltshire and a recognized expert on the early history of photography, in particular the simultaneous invention of photography in England by William Henry Fox Talbot and in France by Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre.

Matt Williams, Collections Manager at the BRLSI, is a natural history curator specialising in palaeontology. He has a masters degree in palaeobiology from Bristol University.