Robinson, Aileen Kaye (Author)
Davis, Tracy C. (Advisor)
Northwestern University
Davis, Tracy C.
Physical Details: 227 pp.
Language: English
In nineteenth-century Britain, scientific demonstrations situated the communication and utilization of scientific knowledge within edifying entertainment. The category of public science resulted: it incorporated all disciplines orchestrated around systems of observation and experimentation, in alliance with theatrical and performative techniques of display that made private knowledge attractive. This dissertation examines the category of public science’s development in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Britain through scientific lectures, mechanical magic shows, and theatrical performances. Science and technologies were often put on display in a range of venues, utilizing theatrical techniques of spectacle to attract audiences. However, British public performances of science and technologies fashioned practices of perceiving and validating scientific practice beyond simply sensationalizing effects. The dissertation triangulates between the dissemination of scientific knowledge through lectures and exhibitions, the implementation of technological invention within magic shows and theatre performances, and the utilization of theatrical techniques within scientific practices. These performances fashioned vital orientations towards scientific theories and technological innovations that contributed to modern and contemporary approaches towards science. The reception of spectacular performances within an increasingly science-dependent milieu created a spectator oriented towards scientific knowledge as a general category. While both the history of science and theatre studies consider the relevance of popular practices to social and cultural practices, the project intervenes in both through the exploration of how popular theatrical culture is embedded in the elaboration and alteration of scientific and technological knowledge. The project aims to locate the important features of non-specialist science within theatrical productions, arguing for the interconnectedness of presentation spheres in nineteenth-century London.
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