Description
Book SynopsisJohn Theophilus Desaguliers made his mark on the eighteenth century in several diverse ways. He was an assistant to Sir Isaac Newton and later elucidated the difficult concepts of Newtonian physics in private lectures. He was a member of the Royal Society, and was presented with the Society''s highest honour, the Copley Medal, no less than three times. He was a pioneering engineer: the water supply of Edinburgh, the ventilation of the Houses of Parliament and the first Westminster Bridge all owed him a debt. In a different sphere, Desaguliers became the third Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of the Freemasons which was founded in 1717. He is remembered worldwide for his seminal influence during those early days of Freemasonry. He also wrote poetry and had an influential circle of patrons, including George I and Frederick, Prince of Wales (whom he initiated as a Mason at a specially convened lodge at Kew). This biography, based on original research, describes a charismatic character who
Trade ReviewCarpenter's study of Desaguliers is a carefully researched and thoughtfully written antidote to the persistent neglect Desaguliers has suffered at the hands of historians. Desaguliers's personal history could have relegated him to a liminal status but instead he became a key interlocutor of the early Enlightenment and many of its most important English manifestations: Newtonian science, the Royal Society, Freemasonry, Whiggish politics, practical engineering and the most ethereal of mechanical apparatus -- Susan Mitchell Sommers, Professor of History, Saint Vincent College, US
If one man sums up the vibrancy and intellectual ferment of Newtonian London, it is the Huguenot exile and pioneering scientist, John Theophilus Desaguliers. Audrey Carpenter's compelling book assiduously reconstructs the many facets of this fascinating man's life, from his demonstrations of Newton's discoveries and his experiments with steam power and electricity to his pivotal role in the creation of new social activities such as Freemasonry. Carpenter vividly evokes through the figure of Desaguliers the coffee houses, taverns, masonic lodges and noble residences of Georgian London. -- Professor Andrew Prescott, King's College London
Table of ContentsIntroduction; Part 1 - Development of a Reputation; 1. Early Life and Education: La Rochelle to Oxford; 2. Lectures in London and Beyond, and Royal Recognition; 3. Fellow of the Royal Society; 4. Translations from French and Latin, and Troubles with Booksellers; Part 2 - Applying the Expertise; 5. Patronage and the Duke of Chandos; 6. Fire, Water and Air - Desaguliers the Engineer; 7. Desaguliers' Science and publication of his Course of Experimental Philosophy and Dissertation Concerning Electricity; Part 3 - Life Beyond Science; 8. Freemasonry - Desaguliers' Contribution to the Early Years of Grand Lodge; 9. Poems, Plays and Pictures; 10. The House in Channel Row; Conclusion.
