Science for Industry: A Short History of the Imperial College of Science and Technology andIts Antecedents by A. Rupert HallReview by: Robert KargonIsis, Vol. 75, No. 1, Sarton, Science, and History (Mar., 1984), p. 213Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of The History of Science SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/232380 .

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BOOK REVIEWS-ISIS, 75 : 1: 276 (1984) BOOK REVIEWS-ISIS, 75 : 1: 276 (1984) BOOK REVIEWS-ISIS, 75 : 1: 276 (1984)

cial "informal" history at least acknowl- edges. From R. G. Hewlett and O. E. Anderson's The New World 1939-1946 (Volume I of the Atomic Energy Commis- sion history) to the recent works of younger scholars-for example, David Al- lison on the Naval Research Laboratory and Clayton Koppes on the Jet Propulsion Laboratory-the necessity of official spon- sorship to gain access has not prevented historians from exercising a measure of independent judgment and from being faithful to high standards of scholarship. England may have been free to reach his own conclusions, but the constraints he placed on himself were so narrow that his interpretations are indistinguishable from those of the actors. His five-page conclu- sion relies almost entirely on articles by Dael Wolfle and Lee Anna Embrey, the latest of which was published in 1963. In his footnotes England quotes sources that point to conclusions strikingly different from his text. The nation and science would be well served if the NSF's zeal for the freedom of science did not blind it to the benefits to be gained by a free, and broad, historical examination.

A. HUNTER DUPREE

A. Rupert Hall. Science for Industry: A Short History of the Imperial College of Science and Technology and Its Anteced- ents. vii + 108 pp., illus., app. London: Imperial College, 1982. (Paper).

By the end of the nineteenth century the "applied science" revolution-the scien- tific-technical revolution-was well under way. The elaborate network of Victorian scientific and technical institutions was be- ginning to show its age. Voices were heard here and there in favor of an overhaul or reconstruction of the sagging institutional framework. One of the loudest and clearest was that of Richard Burdon Haldane, later Viscount Haldane, who wrote in 1905: "The surest and best way to secure na- tional efficiency is to educate our manufac- turers liberally along scientific lines and to enlist the cooperation of distinguished men of science in the work of national admin- istration."

It was Haldane, as Hall relates, who was the "prime mover" in the formation of the Imperial College of Science and Tech- nology, an Edwardian attempt to meet "the industrial needs of the Empire" through

cial "informal" history at least acknowl- edges. From R. G. Hewlett and O. E. Anderson's The New World 1939-1946 (Volume I of the Atomic Energy Commis- sion history) to the recent works of younger scholars-for example, David Al- lison on the Naval Research Laboratory and Clayton Koppes on the Jet Propulsion Laboratory-the necessity of official spon- sorship to gain access has not prevented historians from exercising a measure of independent judgment and from being faithful to high standards of scholarship. England may have been free to reach his own conclusions, but the constraints he placed on himself were so narrow that his interpretations are indistinguishable from those of the actors. His five-page conclu- sion relies almost entirely on articles by Dael Wolfle and Lee Anna Embrey, the latest of which was published in 1963. In his footnotes England quotes sources that point to conclusions strikingly different from his text. The nation and science would be well served if the NSF's zeal for the freedom of science did not blind it to the benefits to be gained by a free, and broad, historical examination.

A. HUNTER DUPREE

A. Rupert Hall. Science for Industry: A Short History of the Imperial College of Science and Technology and Its Anteced- ents. vii + 108 pp., illus., app. London: Imperial College, 1982. (Paper).

By the end of the nineteenth century the "applied science" revolution-the scien- tific-technical revolution-was well under way. The elaborate network of Victorian scientific and technical institutions was be- ginning to show its age. Voices were heard here and there in favor of an overhaul or reconstruction of the sagging institutional framework. One of the loudest and clearest was that of Richard Burdon Haldane, later Viscount Haldane, who wrote in 1905: "The surest and best way to secure na- tional efficiency is to educate our manufac- turers liberally along scientific lines and to enlist the cooperation of distinguished men of science in the work of national admin- istration."

It was Haldane, as Hall relates, who was the "prime mover" in the formation of the Imperial College of Science and Tech- nology, an Edwardian attempt to meet "the industrial needs of the Empire" through

cial "informal" history at least acknowl- edges. From R. G. Hewlett and O. E. Anderson's The New World 1939-1946 (Volume I of the Atomic Energy Commis- sion history) to the recent works of younger scholars-for example, David Al- lison on the Naval Research Laboratory and Clayton Koppes on the Jet Propulsion Laboratory-the necessity of official spon- sorship to gain access has not prevented historians from exercising a measure of independent judgment and from being faithful to high standards of scholarship. England may have been free to reach his own conclusions, but the constraints he placed on himself were so narrow that his interpretations are indistinguishable from those of the actors. His five-page conclu- sion relies almost entirely on articles by Dael Wolfle and Lee Anna Embrey, the latest of which was published in 1963. In his footnotes England quotes sources that point to conclusions strikingly different from his text. The nation and science would be well served if the NSF's zeal for the freedom of science did not blind it to the benefits to be gained by a free, and broad, historical examination.

A. HUNTER DUPREE

A. Rupert Hall. Science for Industry: A Short History of the Imperial College of Science and Technology and Its Anteced- ents. vii + 108 pp., illus., app. London: Imperial College, 1982. (Paper).

By the end of the nineteenth century the "applied science" revolution-the scien- tific-technical revolution-was well under way. The elaborate network of Victorian scientific and technical institutions was be- ginning to show its age. Voices were heard here and there in favor of an overhaul or reconstruction of the sagging institutional framework. One of the loudest and clearest was that of Richard Burdon Haldane, later Viscount Haldane, who wrote in 1905: "The surest and best way to secure na- tional efficiency is to educate our manufac- turers liberally along scientific lines and to enlist the cooperation of distinguished men of science in the work of national admin- istration."

It was Haldane, as Hall relates, who was the "prime mover" in the formation of the Imperial College of Science and Tech- nology, an Edwardian attempt to meet "the industrial needs of the Empire" through

technical education and advanced scien- tific-technical research. The Imperial Col- lege grew from Victorian roots: the Royal School of Mines, the Royal College of Chemistry, and the Central Technical Col- lege of the City and Guilds of London In- stitute. Illustrious Victorian names such as Hofmann, Huxley, Tyndall, Murchison, Armstrong, and Ayrton graced its history. But in 1907, when the Imperial College was incorporated, new terrain was to be ex- plored: the new physics, aeronautics, chemical technology, plant physiology, fuel studies, and astrophysics, among many other vital fields.

A. Rupert Hall's panorama lays out clearly the scope of the achievement at South Kensington. In the twentieth century the Imperial College became one of the world's premier scientific-technical insti- tutions, ranking with such similar founda- tions as MIT and Caltech. Science for In- dustry contains a wealth of important and useful information. The book might have served as the launching point for numerous fuller studies on issues raised or implied in it, were it not for the unfortunate decision to omit citations, bibliography, and index. An immense amount of erudition will be difficult to recover and to utilize because of it. Moreover, that decision prevents his- torians from evaluating the book as a work of history; as it stands, it is a tempting ce- lebratory volume. Perhaps the author could be inveigled into supplying the much- needed apparatus in a second edition.

ROBERT KARGON

Michael Hunter. The Royal Society and Its Fellows, 1660-1700: The Morphology of an Early Scientific Institution. (British So- ciety for the History of Science Mono- graphs, 4.) v + 270 pp., apps., bibl., in- dexes. Chalfont St. Giles, Bucks.: British Society for the History of Science, 1982. ?5.90, $11 (nonmembers); ?4.40, $8.50 (members) (paper).

The present volume contains, in the lan- guage of Henry Oldenburg, "solid and use- full knowledge." Building on an article that first appeared in Notes and Records of the Royal Society (1976, 31:9-114), Michael Hunter has revised and expanded his ear- lier effort and extended its chronological scope. The result is a compact yet com- prehensive volume that "aims to be both a reference tool and an interpretive study"

technical education and advanced scien- tific-technical research. The Imperial Col- lege grew from Victorian roots: the Royal School of Mines, the Royal College of Chemistry, and the Central Technical Col- lege of the City and Guilds of London In- stitute. Illustrious Victorian names such as Hofmann, Huxley, Tyndall, Murchison, Armstrong, and Ayrton graced its history. But in 1907, when the Imperial College was incorporated, new terrain was to be ex- plored: the new physics, aeronautics, chemical technology, plant physiology, fuel studies, and astrophysics, among many other vital fields.

A. Rupert Hall's panorama lays out clearly the scope of the achievement at South Kensington. In the twentieth century the Imperial College became one of the world's premier scientific-technical insti- tutions, ranking with such similar founda- tions as MIT and Caltech. Science for In- dustry contains a wealth of important and useful information. The book might have served as the launching point for numerous fuller studies on issues raised or implied in it, were it not for the unfortunate decision to omit citations, bibliography, and index. An immense amount of erudition will be difficult to recover and to utilize because of it. Moreover, that decision prevents his- torians from evaluating the book as a work of history; as it stands, it is a tempting ce- lebratory volume. Perhaps the author could be inveigled into supplying the much- needed apparatus in a second edition.

ROBERT KARGON

Michael Hunter. The Royal Society and Its Fellows, 1660-1700: The Morphology of an Early Scientific Institution. (British So- ciety for the History of Science Mono- graphs, 4.) v + 270 pp., apps., bibl., in- dexes. Chalfont St. Giles, Bucks.: British Society for the History of Science, 1982. ?5.90, $11 (nonmembers); ?4.40, $8.50 (members) (paper).

The present volume contains, in the lan- guage of Henry Oldenburg, "solid and use- full knowledge." Building on an article that first appeared in Notes and Records of the Royal Society (1976, 31:9-114), Michael Hunter has revised and expanded his ear- lier effort and extended its chronological scope. The result is a compact yet com- prehensive volume that "aims to be both a reference tool and an interpretive study"

technical education and advanced scien- tific-technical research. The Imperial Col- lege grew from Victorian roots: the Royal School of Mines, the Royal College of Chemistry, and the Central Technical Col- lege of the City and Guilds of London In- stitute. Illustrious Victorian names such as Hofmann, Huxley, Tyndall, Murchison, Armstrong, and Ayrton graced its history. But in 1907, when the Imperial College was incorporated, new terrain was to be ex- plored: the new physics, aeronautics, chemical technology, plant physiology, fuel studies, and astrophysics, among many other vital fields.

A. Rupert Hall's panorama lays out clearly the scope of the achievement at South Kensington. In the twentieth century the Imperial College became one of the world's premier scientific-technical insti- tutions, ranking with such similar founda- tions as MIT and Caltech. Science for In- dustry contains a wealth of important and useful information. The book might have served as the launching point for numerous fuller studies on issues raised or implied in it, were it not for the unfortunate decision to omit citations, bibliography, and index. An immense amount of erudition will be difficult to recover and to utilize because of it. Moreover, that decision prevents his- torians from evaluating the book as a work of history; as it stands, it is a tempting ce- lebratory volume. Perhaps the author could be inveigled into supplying the much- needed apparatus in a second edition.

ROBERT KARGON

Michael Hunter. The Royal Society and Its Fellows, 1660-1700: The Morphology of an Early Scientific Institution. (British So- ciety for the History of Science Mono- graphs, 4.) v + 270 pp., apps., bibl., in- dexes. Chalfont St. Giles, Bucks.: British Society for the History of Science, 1982. ?5.90, $11 (nonmembers); ?4.40, $8.50 (members) (paper).

The present volume contains, in the lan- guage of Henry Oldenburg, "solid and use- full knowledge." Building on an article that first appeared in Notes and Records of the Royal Society (1976, 31:9-114), Michael Hunter has revised and expanded his ear- lier effort and extended its chronological scope. The result is a compact yet com- prehensive volume that "aims to be both a reference tool and an interpretive study"

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