Thesis ID: CBB001561440

The Culture of Proof: Science, Religion, and Photography in America, 1780--1875 (2006)

unapi

Gold, Matthew K. (Author)


New York, City University of
Richardson, Joan T.


Publication Date: 2006
Edition Details: Advisor: Richardson, Joan T.
Physical Details: 234 pp.
Language: English

The Culture of Proof traces the evolving contours of scientific and religious discourse in late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth century U.S. culture, and argues that concurrent developments in both fields of inquiry helped foster an emergent "culture of proof" in the early republic. Partly an adaptation of Enlightenment empiricism to the North-American terrain, and partly an incorporation of natural theology into religious epistemology, "the culture of proof" was predicated upon the belief that the accumulation, classification, and presentation of "natural facts" was the method best-suited to revealing truths about the universe. As the nineteenth century progressed, the "culture of proof" took on an increasingly visual cast, one which informed and conditioned the reception of the photographic camera in America. Thomas Jefferson's efforts to catalogue the natural features of his home state in Notes on the State of Virginia embodied both a popularization of, and a resistance to, the truth-claims supplied by empirical science. Even as Jefferson inventoried the raw materials of his state, he acknowledged the constructed nature of classificatory systems and betrayed fears about the conclusions to which they could lead when guided by political or religious ideologies. As the founding editor of The American Journal of Science, Benjamin Silliman helped summon into being a broad, nationally-based association of professional scientists. The journal provided scientific investigators with a communal space in which empirical evidence could be not only shared and evaluated, but also communicated to a non-specialist audience. The truth-claims of the emerging "culture of proof" were reinforced by evangelical Protestants such as Charles Grandison Finney, Edward Hitchcock, and Orville Dewey, who joined the scientific call for investigation of "natural facts" and claimed that such studies would demonstrate divine intention and design. The "culture of proof" generated a need for precise documentation that the photographic camera eventually fulfilled. Scientists and theologians quickly championed the "objective" qualities of the new medium. The "culture of proof" had conditioned Americans to search for empirical evidence of divine intention in nature, and the camera seemed to provide that evidence. Photography gave Americans something to believe in just as they came to doubt belief itself.

...More

Description Cited in Diss. Abstr. Int. A 67/08 (2007). UMI pub. no. 3232030.


Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB001561440/

Similar Citations

Chapter Beegan, Gerry; (2008)
Finding Florence in Birmingham: Hybridity and the Photomechanical Image in the 1890s (/isis/citation/CBB000952536/)

Book Willumson, Glenn; (2013)
Iron Muse: Photographing the Transcontinental Railroad (/isis/citation/CBB001320948/)

Book Maxwell, Anne; (2008)
Picture Imperfect: Photography and Eugenics, 1870--1940 (/isis/citation/CBB001035902/)

Book Sarah Kate Gillespie; (2016)
The Early American Daguerreotype: Cross-Currents in Art and Technology (/isis/citation/CBB365899083/)

Book Kennedy, Ian G.; Treuherz, Julian; (2008)
The Railway: Art In the Age of Steam (/isis/citation/CBB001035580/)

Book Bayerl, Günter; Meyer, Torsten; (2003)
Die Veränderung der Kulturlandschaft: Nutzungen, Sichtweisen, Planungen (/isis/citation/CBB000830992/)

Book MacLeod, Christine; (2007)
Heroes of Invention: Technology, Liberalism and British Identity, 1750--1914 (/isis/citation/CBB000830491/)

Book Maines, Rachel; (2009)
Hedonizing Technologies: Paths to Pleasure in Hobbies and Leisure (/isis/citation/CBB000952151/)

Book Pursell, Carroll W.; (2005)
Companion to American technology (/isis/citation/CBB001180187/)

Article Calvert, Scout; (2013)
Certified Angus, Certified Patriot: Breeding, Bodies, and Pedigree Practices (/isis/citation/CBB001320575/)

Book Susan Branson; (2022)
Scientific Americans: Invention, Technology, and National Identity (/isis/citation/CBB495204930/)

Book Thomas Stubblefield; (2015)
9/11 and the Visual Culture of Disaster (/isis/citation/CBB335939933/)

Book Quirke, Carol; (2012)
Eyes on Labor: News Photography and America's Working Class (/isis/citation/CBB001550272/)

Authors & Contributors
Thomas Stubblefield
Susan Branson
Quirke, Carol
Downey, Gregory J.
Calvert, Scout
Willumson, Glenn
Concepts
Technology and culture
Technology
Photography
Technology and art
Visual representation; visual communication
Mass media
Time Periods
19th century
18th century
20th century
17th century
21st century
20th century, early
Places
United States
Great Britain
Americas
Germany
Detroit (Michigan)
Michigan (U.S.)
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment