Commercial and Sublime:
Popular Astronomy Lectures in
Nineteenth Century Britain
Hsiang-Fu Huang
UCL
Department of Science and Technology Studies
Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
(PhD) in History and Philosophy of Science
March 2015
Abstract
This thesis discusses the practitioners, sites, curriculums, apparatus and
audiences of popular astronomy lecturing in nineteenth-century Britain.
Lecturers who were active approximately between 1820 and 1860 are the focus.
This thesis emphasises popularisers who were not scientific elites, including C.
H. Adams (1803-1871), George Bartley (c. 1782-1858), and D. F. Walker
(1778-1865). Activities of private popularisers are compared with those in
scientific establishments, such as the Royal Institution. Private entrepreneurs
were not inferior to institutional competitors and enjoyed popularity among
audiences. Until the 1860s, popular astronomy lecturing was a shared arena of
institutional and private popularisers.
A theatrical turn occurred in the popular astronomy lecturing trade before
1820. Popularisers moved lectures into theatres and adopted theatrical facilities
in performance. They developed large onstage devices, such as the transparent
orrery, for achieving scenic and dramatic effects. These onstage astronomical
lectures were a phenomenon in the early nineteenth century and were usually
performed during Lent.
This thesis highlights ‘commercial’ and ‘sublime’ features in popular
astronomy lecturing of this period. The lecturing trade had an economic side
involving paying, selling, profits and competitions in everyday practices. In
addition to this material aspect, lectures also had emotional appeal. Lecturers
exploited the sublime: the display of beautiful visual representations, the use of
natural theology rhetoric, plus religious and moral reflections, all appealed for
the sublimilty of the universe and the Creator behind it.
5
Contents
Acknowledgements
List of Figures
List of Tables
9
11
14
List of Abbreviations
15
Notes on Currency
16
1. Introduction
17
1.1
Main Thesis
1.2
Science in Context
1.3
Public Lecturing in the Eighteenth Century
1.4
A Nation of Show-keepers
1.5
Commercial and Sublime: A Contested Sphere
2. Affiliation
21
27
31
34
44
2.1
C. H. Adams, “The Only Orthodox Interpreter”
2.2
Bachhoffner and the Royal Polytechnic
2.3
Affiliated or Independent
2.4
The Wrangler and the Carpenter: Qualification for Lecturing
Chapter Conclusion
3.
17
Geography
57
68
90
92
3.1
Metropolis: A Cornucopia of Amusements
3.2
Astronomy inside Theatres
3.3
Astronomy in Institutions
120
3.4
Astronomy for the People
130
3.5
Country: Every Nook and Cranny
6
46
107
138
95
77
Chapter Conclusion
4. Subjects
142
146
4.1
Syllabus in Common
4.2
News of Discovery
4.3
A Playwright’s Work
4.4
Devotion, “Daughter of Astronomy”
175
4.5
Progress and the Plurality of Worlds
187
Chapter Conclusion
5. Apparatus
149
157
165
199
201
5.1
Material Culture of Public Lecturing
5.2
Orreries in the Crystal Palace
5.3
Stage Machines: Astronomers are not Amused
5.4
Scenic Transparencies
Chapter Conclusion
6. Audiences
206
215
225
232
234
6.1
Audience Composition
6.2
Reminiscences of Show Visiting
6.3
A Fashionable Motive for Science
6.4
Reception: A Matter of Truth
Chapter Conclusion
7. Conclusion
204
238
248
255
265
275
279
7.1
Epilogue: The End of an Era
7.2
Summary of the Thesis
7.3
Future Work
279
284
293
7
Appendix A: Directory of Astronomical Lecturers in Britain, 1800-1870
299
Appendix B: Transcription of Samuel James Arnold’s Ouranologia
303
Bibliography
357
List of Archives and Databases
357
Primary Sources (before 1900)
357
Secondary References
8
360