Description
Book SynopsisIn Scientific Americans, Susan Branson explores the place of science and technology in American efforts to achieve cultural independence from Europe and America''s nation building in the early republic and antebellum eras. This engaging tour of scientific education and practices among ordinary citizens charts the development of nationalism and national identity alongside roads, rails, and machines.
Scientific Americans shows how informal scientific education provided by almanacs, public lectures, and demonstrations, along with the financial encouragement of early scientific societies, generated an enthusiasm for the application of science and technology to civic, commercial, and domestic improvements. Not only that: Americans were excited, awed, and intrigued with the practicality of inventions.
Bringing together scientific research and popular wonder, Branson charts how everything from mechanical clocks to steam engines informed
Table of Contents
Introduction: The Role of Science and Technology in the Creation of American National Identity
1. Domestic Science: Learning, Observing, and Promoting Science as American Enterprise
2. Flights of Imagination: Air Balloons and National Ambitions
3. Engines of Change: Machines Drive American Industry
4. Grand Designs: Technology and Urban Planning
5. Internal Improvements: Phrenology as a Tool for Reform
6. Fair America: Promoting American Invention
Conclusion: The First American Century
