Masterwork Completed

Charles Coulston Gillispie has justified his place as dean of historians of science and technology with these two magisterial books. Science and Polity in France: The End of the Old Regime, published twenty-five years ago, demonstrates how intellectuals in Paris developed science and technology as the expression of the Enlightenment's use of reason to resolve social problems. Through networks of talented individuals benefiting from state support, experimental information was exchanged and standards developed. The recently published (2004) Science and Polity in France: The Revolutionary and Napoleonic Years, shows how the embryonic science became professional as scientists earned a living through their expertise. This volume presents the debate over educational plans submitted to Revolutionary committees. It shows the bumpy adoption of the metric system and the perilous measurement of the Meridian of Paris. And while acknowledging that interchangeable parts and steel making were known, Gillispie asserts that the French Revolution did not create an industrial revolution. Meticulously documented, engagingly written, these volumes are definitive reference works for scholar and general reader alike.