In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Reviewed by:
  • Communities of Science in Nineteenth-Century Ireland by Juliana Adelman
  • Frank Ferguson (bio)
Communities of Science in Nineteenth-Century Ireland, by Juliana Adelman ; xi + 221. London and Brookfield, VT: Pickering & Chatto, 2009, £60.00, $99.00.

Juliana Adelman’s monograph is an important reminder of the ways in which science operates as a series of social, cultural, and recreational engagements, as much as a set of theories for specific disciplines and practices. Although the interaction between the scientific world and Irish society was unpredictable and contested during the nineteenth century, this book demonstrates that Irish people and institutions were far from indifferent to philosophical and technical debates. Adelman’s narrative also delineates the way in which scientific thought was not a monolith but a variety of disciplines which did not always provoke controversy or antipathy in equal measure. Adelman’s aim, to recover the social discourse of science in Ireland, makes for compelling reading and her book is an important addition to our knowledge on this subject.

In a clear and concise manner, Adelman asks and answers a number of key questions about the relationship of science and Irish society. It describes the successes and failures to establish scientific methodologies, training, and dissemination of ideas intended to further the economic and social development of the island. This was not merely driven by a selfish entrepreneurial ambition to industrialise for profit, but was also propelled in the mid-century and afterward to exorcise charges that the tragedy of the Famine was perpetrated by an allegedly backward nation.

The book provides fundamental rejoinders to charges that Ireland lagged behind other constituents of the United Kingdom in its desire to propagate scientific knowledge aimed at improving the nation’s economic and intellectual standing. While it sets out the reasons for Ireland being held back from advancement (including a lack of government direction, a lack of island-wide industrialisation, and sectarian tensions), it also underscores the profound engagement that voluntary societies, universities, agriculture, museums, and periodicals had with science. Indeed, the book serves as a cultural reader of nineteenth-century Ireland, using science as its focus. Many of the book’s conclusions follow from assumptions about the nature of nineteenth-century Ireland: for example, that the Catholic hierarchy was threatened by the teaching of geology and other contentious disciplines; or that wider sectarian divisions replicated themselves in the appointment of individuals to teaching and lecturing positions. [End Page 521] However, what is more particularly significant is Adelman’s history of voluntary associations in the first part of the century and especially of their attempts to mimic government bodies elsewhere in the British Isles. This history, as well as the exploration of the foundation of science subjects within the heart of the Queen’s Colleges system, is an important record of ambitions failed and achieved.

As a monograph that looks at community engagement with science, Adelman’s book goes some way toward the comprehension of the mechanics of the social interest in science both as practical knowledge and as cultural entertainment. The conversazione—that most Victorian of entertainments—is examined, and its significance is rightly explored. Indeed, it is unfortunate that Adelman did not say more on this subject, given the many newspaper accounts of such occasions. She might also have more amply and subtly treated the assertion that scientific discourse always challenged religious and traditional beliefs, for there were many debates and a variety of positions were taken. The interchange between science and the arts warrants further examination. Given the broad interests of a number of the voluntary societies and the extent of public enthusiasm, some details of the nature of public lectures might have been provided. Additionally, Adelman does not sufficiently acknowledge lower classes’ engagement with science. One thinks of the responses to industrial development recorded by poets within the weaving tradition in Ulster, such as David Herbison, who mourned the passing of the craft and skill of the home weavers as they were replaced by machinery and the mills.

The focus of Adelman’s study provides a very stimulating portrait of the expansion of modernity within Ireland. However, some important areas are identified but not discussed. The province of Ulster...

pdf

Share