Progressive Enlightenment: The Origins of the Gaslight Industry, 1780-1820 by Leslie Tomory (review)

In Progressive Enlightenment, Leslie Tomory presents a highly detailed description of the European origins of gas lighting. The concise narrative places the background and development of early gas-lighting experiments and ventures deeply within the context of the Industrial Revolution, with a nod to the recent work of Joel Mokyr that explores the influence of the Enlightenment on that era. Tomory then traces the process of designing the technology needed to establish stand-alone gas-light plants, followed by the development of urban gas-lighting networks. Currently a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at McGill University, Tomory based this well-researched book on his dissertation; he has also written other essays and articles on this subject (see, for example, "Building the First Gas Network, 1812-1820," Technology and Culture 52, no. 1 [2011]: 75-102).

The book is organized into three parts. In the first, Tomory explores early European experiments in pneumatic chemistry and industrial distillation. This section examines the work of Philippe Lebon in France and William Murdoch in Britain in particular and posits that Enlightenment-era public science contributed to the dissemination of knowledge of pneumatic chemistry that provided a foundation for gas lighting. Tomory also argues that Murdoch's emphasis on using coal as a feedstock, as opposed to wood, proved decisive in Britain's early success in developing viable and sustainable gas-lighting systems. Part 2 is an in-depth examination of the firm Boulton & Watt, of which Murdoch was a longtime employee, and its involvement in developing commercially viable, stand-alone gas plants. The installation of gas lighting at the textile firm of Philips & Lee marked Boulton & Watt's first large commercial gas facility. The book's final section describes the literal trials and tribulations of the formation and early years of the Gas Light and Coke Company (GLCC) of London that, in 1812, began distributing gas in Europe's most populous city.

In supporting the theme of British exceptionalism in the Industrial Revolution, Tomory argues that gas lighting "was the earliest case in which the Enlightenment dream of science at the service of industry actually worked in an important way" (p. 3). According to him, the advent of gas lighting thus further confirms Britain's role as the Industrial Revolution's prime mover. While he is not the first to note the emergence of gas lighting within this context, Tomory's careful attention to detailing this story with the aid of abundant archival and other primary-source documentation is impressive. Clearly, it was the engineers and entrepreneurs who transformed gaslight from laboratory experiment to commercial enterprise. Boulton & Watt's success at selling individual gas-lighting plants to textile firms was based on the idea that each customer would have its own gas plant—which had obvious limitations. It was the German-born Frederick Winsor who, Tomory writes, had no talent for engineering though strong entrepreneurial skills, who founded the GLCC and implemented the network model for urban gas distribution. Tomory also correctly points out that the management structure and technological networks of the early gaslight firms exhibited characteristics similar to those of the railroad industry decades later that Alfred Chandler identified as the first modern business enterprises.

Although the title of Tomory's work suggests a wider geographic perspective on the origins of gas lighting, he focuses exclusively on Europe, and Britain in particular. Yet, Tomory does briefly reflect on Thomas Edison and Chicago utility-magnate Samuel Insull and their network-building in the United States years later. Regarding Edison, he notes that his electric power systems were inspired by gas networks "whose basic model was first developed by the GLCC" (p. 236). But Edison was actually inspired more directly by the existing gas-light system in New York City; he initially planned to use gas-distribution lines as conduits for insulated electrical wires, and then replace the gas-light fixtures with those for electric lights in the process of quickly replacing the...