Heroes of Invention
Technology, Liberalism and British Identity, 1750–1914
Seiten
2007
Cambridge University Press (Verlag)
978-0-521-87370-3 (ISBN)
Cambridge University Press (Verlag)
978-0-521-87370-3 (ISBN)
This innovative study investigates why inventors rose to heroic stature and popular acclaim in Victorian Britain. Christine MacLeod argues that inventors became figureheads of various nineteenth-century factions who deployed their heroic reputation, not least to challenge the aristocracy's hold on power and the militaristic national identity that bolstered it.
This innovative study adopts a distinct perspective on both the industrial revolution and nineteenth-century British culture. It investigates why inventors rose to heroic stature and popular acclaim in Victorian Britain, attested by numerous monuments, biographies and honours, and contends there was no decline in the industrial nation's self-esteem before 1914. In a period notorious for hero-worship, the veneration of inventors might seem unremarkable, were it not for their previous disparagement and the relative neglect suffered by their twentieth-century successors. Christine MacLeod argues that inventors became figureheads of various nineteenth-century factions, from economic and political liberals to impoverished scientists and radical artisans, who deployed their heroic reputation, not least to challenge the aristocracy's hold on power and the militaristic national identity that bolstered it. Although this was a challenge that ultimately failed, its legacy of ideas about invention, inventors, and the history of the industrial revolution remains highly influential.
This innovative study adopts a distinct perspective on both the industrial revolution and nineteenth-century British culture. It investigates why inventors rose to heroic stature and popular acclaim in Victorian Britain, attested by numerous monuments, biographies and honours, and contends there was no decline in the industrial nation's self-esteem before 1914. In a period notorious for hero-worship, the veneration of inventors might seem unremarkable, were it not for their previous disparagement and the relative neglect suffered by their twentieth-century successors. Christine MacLeod argues that inventors became figureheads of various nineteenth-century factions, from economic and political liberals to impoverished scientists and radical artisans, who deployed their heroic reputation, not least to challenge the aristocracy's hold on power and the militaristic national identity that bolstered it. Although this was a challenge that ultimately failed, its legacy of ideas about invention, inventors, and the history of the industrial revolution remains highly influential.
Christine MacLeod is Senior Lecturer in Economic and Social History at the School of Humanities, University of Bristol. She is the author of Inventing the Industrial Revolution: the English Patent System, 1660-1800 (1988).
Acknowledgements; Abbreviations; List of illustrations; 1. Introduction: inventors and other heroes; 2. The new Prometheus; 3. The inventor's progress; 4. The apotheosis of James Watt; 5. Watt, inventor of the Industrial Revolution; 6. 'What's Watt?' The radical critique; 7. The technological pantheon; 8. Heroes of the Pax Britannica; 9. Debating the patent system; 10. The workers' heroes; 11. Maintaining the industrial spirit; 12. Science and the disappearing inventor; Epilogue. The Victorian legacy; Bibliography; Index.
| Erscheint lt. Verlag | 20.12.2007 |
|---|---|
| Reihe/Serie | Cambridge Studies in Economic History - Second Series |
| Verlagsort | Cambridge |
| Sprache | englisch |
| Maße | 159 x 233 mm |
| Gewicht | 870 g |
| Themenwelt | Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► Neuzeit (bis 1918) |
| Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte | |
| Geschichte ► Teilgebiete der Geschichte ► Wirtschaftsgeschichte | |
| ISBN-10 | 0-521-87370-3 / 0521873703 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0-521-87370-3 / 9780521873703 |
| Zustand | Neuware |
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