Nervous Conditions: Science and the Body Politic in Early Industrial Britain

Preface

Preface Anyone who has transformed a doctoral dissertation into a book has incurred a long thank-you list. It is only appropriate to thank first those who served as midwives to the birthing process. For generously sharing their time, expertise, and encouragement with me, I thank my doctoral committee at Indiana University : Richard Sorrenson, Jim Capshew, Jeanne Peterson, and Nico Bertoloni-Meli. I have also enjoyed generous support at my professional home-away-from-home, the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at Cambridge University. In particular, I thank Simon Schaffer, Anne Secord , Jim Secord, Paul White, and Martin Kusch. Long conversations with each of them have improved my thinking immeasurably. While a Mellon postdoctoral fellow in Oklahoma’s Department of the History of Science, I benefited from a stimulating intellectual environment and the wonderfully rich history of science collections there. Karen and Larry Estes, Keri and Chris McReynolds, Gregg Mitman, Katherine Pandora, Sylvia Patterson, Kim Perez, and Kathleen Wellman made my stay in Norman enjoyable and productive. Since then, I have had the fortune to teach at Southwestern University, where the support is even bigger than Texas. For putting such a bright face on my first years of full-time academic work and for encouraging me to keep working on this book, I am especially grateful to Eileen Cleere, Ed Kain, Sahar Shafqat, Kim Smith, Julie Thompson, and my unequaled department colleagues —Daniel Castro, Steve Davidson, Jan Dawson, Lisa Moses Leff, and Thom McClendon. I owe a great debt to many other history of science colleagues whose insights , support, and kind (but incisive) criticism have made them true friends. Kathy Olesko nurtured my first interests in the history of science during my undergraduate years at Georgetown University. For their help with this project, I especially thank Will Ashworth, Brad Hume, Bruce Hunt, Iwan Rhys ix Morus, Michael Reidy, Klaus Staubermann, Jenny Tannoch-Bland, Jennifer Tucker, and Norton Wise. Participants in the July 1998 Bellagio Center conference on “The Interpenetration of Science and Philosophy of Science,” organized by David Hull, engaged me in informative conversations on the topics discussed in this book. A number of institutions provided generous support for my research, including a three-year graduate fellowship from the National Science Foundation , a Mellon postdoctoral fellowship from the University of Oklahoma, and several grants from Indiana University and Southwestern University. The following librarians made my archival research both productive and pleasant: Pat Fox and Cliff Farrington (Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, University of Texas at Austin); Sandra Cumming and Mary Sampson (Royal Society of London); Godfrey Waller and Adam Perkins (Cambridge University Library); Elizabeth Quarmby (St. John’s College, Cambridge); Patricia Methven (King’s College London); Peter McNiven (John Rylands University Library of Manchester); Sylvia Patterson (University of Oklahoma); and the library staff at Indiana University; University of Massachusetts–Amherst ; Mt. Holyoke College; Southwestern University; Harvard University’s Houghton and Widener Libraries; the British Library; Trinity College, Cambridge ; University College London; Edinburgh University; and the Wellcome Library for the History and Understanding of Medicine. For permission to republish some of the material in this book, I thank the editors at History of Science and Berg Publishers. Much of chapter 3 also appeared in my paper, “Local Colour: John Dalton and the Politics of Colour Blindness,” History of Science 38 (2000): 401–24. Portions of chapters 4 and 6 were previously published in “The Governor and the Telegraph: Mental Management in British Natural Philosophy,” in Bodies/Machines, ed. Iwan Rhys Morus (Oxford and New York: Berg Publishers, 2002). For permission to quote manuscripts, I thank the Syndics of Cambridge University Library and the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council, the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin, King’s College London, the Director and Librarian at the John Rylands University Library of Manchester , and the Master and Fellows of Trinity College Cambridge. For making my first book publishing experience rewarding, I thank James Peltz, Laurie Searl, and Alan V. Hewat at State University of New York Press. Two anonymous reviewers commissioned by the press gave me extensive and constructive feedback. Finally, I offer my heartfelt gratitude to my family. My parents, Tom and x PREFACE ❘ Julie Green, and sister, Mary, have always believed in me and the value of my work. My parents-in-law, John and Mary Musselman, have encouraged me with their faith in the importance of education. I...