Synopses & Reviews
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.
Review
This is a remarkable study of Alessandro Volta's science of electricity in its social and cultural context, one that adds significantly to the scholarship on Enlightenment science and technology. The first monograph on Volta to appear in English, it offers an in-depth contextual analysis of his experimental practice founded on Guiliano Pancaldi's detailed knowledge of the sources. Jan Golinski - American Historical Review
Review
Giuliano Pancaldi's study of Alessandro Volta reveals the vast international trade in scientific knowledge that, by the end of the eighteenth century, had transformed the promotion of experiment. Pancaldi's treatment of Volta as a major figure in the revolutionary world of the late eighteenth century is an important addition to studies of a scientific public. Patricia Fara - Chemical Heritage
Review
In this detailed and ambitious book, Volta's life and the fascinating and complicated patterns that led to the battery are beautifully described. . . . Every chapter has an interesting and original thesis, shows detailed and painstaking knowledge of manuscripts and adds to our knowledge of Volta and his time. Times Literary Supplement
Review
This is by far the best book about Volta in English. . . . It is contextual, unawed, and enriched by new manuscript material. It is also far more than just a biography. Based on this study of one individual's electrical activities, Pancaldi makes general arguments about the culture of science at the end of the Enlightenment. -- Patricia Fara, Times Literary Supplement In this detailed and ambitious book, Volta's life and the fascinating and complicated patterns that led to the battery are beautifully described. . . . Every chapter has an interesting and original thesis, shows detailed and painstaking knowledge of manuscripts and adds to our knowledge of Volta and his time. -- Fabio Bevilacqua, American Scientist An insightful chronicle of an individual genius riding global tides of cultural transformation. . . . A fascinating mix of science and biography. -- Booklist Giuliano Pancaldi's engaging book contributes substantially to a reappraisal of the sciences of the Enlightenment, as well as providing a wealth of information about Volta's life and accomplishments. . . . [I]t is an impressive accomplishment that significantly advances the historiography of the sciences in enlightened Europe. -- Jan Golinski, American Historical Review This is a remarkable study of Alessandro Volta's science of electricity in its social and cultural context, one that adds significantly to the scholarship on Enlightenment science and technology. The first monograph on Volta to appear in English, it offers an in-depth contextual analysis of his experimental practice founded on Guiliano Pancaldi's detailed knowledge of the sources. -- Massimo Mazzotti, Technology and Culture This is by far the best book about Volta in English. . . . It is also far more than just a biography. Based on this study of one individual's electrical activities, Pancaldi makes general arguments about the culture of science at the end of the enlightenment. -- Patricia Fara, Chemical Heritage Giuliano Pancaldi's study of Alessandro Volta reveals the vast international trade in scientific knowledge that, by the end of the eighteenth century, had transformed the promotion of experiment. Pancaldi's treatment of Volta as a major figure in the revolutionary world of the late eighteenth century is an important addition to studies of a scientific public. -- Larry Stewart, Business History Review
Review
This is by far the best book about Volta in English. . . . It is also far more than just a biography. Based on this study of one individual's electrical activities, Pancaldi makes general arguments about the culture of science at the end of the enlightenment. Massimo Mazzotti - Technology and Culture
Review
An insightful chronicle of an individual genius riding global tides of cultural transformation. . . . A fascinating mix of science and biography. Fabio Bevilacqua - American Scientist
Review
Giuliano Pancaldi's engaging book contributes substantially to a reappraisal of the sciences of the Enlightenment, as well as providing a wealth of information about Volta's life and accomplishments. . . . [I]t is an impressive accomplishment that significantly advances the historiography of the sciences in enlightened Europe. Booklist
Synopsis
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.
Synopsis
"Pancaldi's book is the best thing on Volta that has ever been written. The author's command of the scientific issues is impeccable, and his presentation of the contributions and reactions of Volta's contemporaries is equally successful."
--Charles C. Gillispie, Princeton University"This work is a splendid contribution to knowledge that will have wide appeal. It deals with a seminal figure in the development of science--an intellectual giant who was to some real extent a self-made scientist. Presenting the story in clear and dramatic terms, the book is a milestone in our understanding of Enlightenment science and of the ways that science is related to its social and cultural matrix."--I. Bernard Cohen, Harvard University
Synopsis
"Pancaldi's book is the best thing on Volta that has ever been written. The author's command of the scientific issues is impeccable, and his presentation of the contributions and reactions of Volta's contemporaries is equally successful."--Charles C. Gillispie, Princeton University
"This work is a splendid contribution to knowledge that will have wide appeal. It deals with a seminal figure in the development of science--an intellectual giant who was to some real extent a self-made scientist. Presenting the story in clear and dramatic terms, the book is a milestone in our understanding of Enlightenment science and of the ways that science is related to its social and cultural matrix."--I. Bernard Cohen, Harvard University
Synopsis
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.
Synopsis
"Pancaldi's book is the best thing on Volta that has ever been written. The author's command of the scientific issues is impeccable, and his presentation of the contributions and reactions of Volta's contemporaries is equally successful."--Charles C. Gillispie, Princeton University
"This work is a splendid contribution to knowledge that will have wide appeal. It deals with a seminal figure in the development of science--an intellectual giant who was to some real extent a self-made scientist. Presenting the story in clear and dramatic terms, the book is a milestone in our understanding of Enlightenment science and of the ways that science is related to its social and cultural matrix."--I. Bernard Cohen, Harvard University
Table of Contents
Illustrations xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Abbreviations xvii
Introduction 1
Chapter 1
THE MAKING OF A NATURAL PHILOSOPHER
From Amateur, to Expert, to Public Servant 7
The Town 9
The Family 12
Lifestyle 14
Education 15
"A More Enlightened Age" 19
Literary Interests 21
Views on Religion and Secularization 22
From Amateur, to Expert, to Public Servant 27
Emotional Life 33
Investigative Style 39
Conclusion 41
Chapter 2
ENLIGHTENMENT SCIENCE SOUTH OF THE ALPS
The Italian Scientific Community in the Age of Volta 44
The Soil and the Institutions 48
The Scholars: Provenance and Fields of Interest 52
Prosopography 56
The Circulation of Enlightenment Literature 62
Views from the Outside 65
Conclusion 70
Chapter 3
THE ELECTROPHORUS
Theory, Instrument Design, and the Social Uses of Scientific Apparatus 73
Fire, Magnetism, Electricity 76
"Vindicating Electricity" 83
Attraction and the Atmospheres 86
Disenchanted Theorist 90
Scientific Instruments and Their Social Uses 91
The Path to the Electrophorus 95
Instrument Design 100
Publicizing Discovery 104
Conclusion 108
Chapter 4
VOLTA'S SCIENCE OF ELECTRICITY
Conception, Laboratory Work, and Public Recognition 110
Reluctant Theorist 110
Midrange Conceptualization and a New Machine: Capacity, Tension, "Actuation," and the Condensatore 112
Natural Philosopher or Inventor of Amusements Électriques? 121
Explanatory Models and Presentation Strategies: True Causes vs. Instrumentalism 125
Volta's Laboratory: Measuring Electricity 129
Volta on Coulomb 137
Conclusion 141
Chapter 5
THE COSMOPOLITAN NETWORK
Volta and Communication among Experts in Late Enlightenment Europe 146
Overcoming Isolation 149
Exploring the Republic of Letters: The Neighborhoods 153
Facing the Peers: Paris in 1782 156
Anglophilia 160
Continental Europe and the German-Speaking Countries 164
After 1789 168
Conclusion 172
Chapter 6
THE BATTERY
Invention, Instrumentalism, and Competitive Imitation 178
Galvanism, Electrometer in Hand 179
The Hunt for Weak Electricity 186
The Electricity of Animals 190
Nicholson's Contribution to Volta's Discovery 196
Building the Battery 202
Conclusion: Invention, Instrumentalism, and Competitive Imitation 207
Chapter 7
APPROPRIATING INVENTION
The Reception of the Voltaic Battery in Europe 211
Spreading the News 212
Replicating the Instrument 221
Appropriating the Battery 224
A Name for All Purposes 246
From Philosophic Instrument to Patented Device 248
Conclusion 250
Chapter 8
THE SCIENTIST AS HERO
Volta and the Uses of Past Science in the Industrial Era 257
Admitted to "Galileo's Tribune" 258
Secular Saint in the Positivist Calendar 259
"The Triumph of Science" 261
In the Nobel Laureates' Era 263
Conclusion 270
Chapter 9
CONCLUSION: SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND CONTINGENCY
Enlightenment Legacies 273
Invention 273
"Useful Knowledge" and Unintended Consequences 275
"The Quantifying Spirit" 278
Investment 279
Value Assessments 280
Contingency 283
Enlightenment Legacies 286
Notes 291
Bibliography 337
Index 367