Industrial enlightenment : science, technology and culture in Birmingham and the West Midlands, 1760-1820

Identifies, for the first time, a 'provincial' variant Enlightenment in the West Midlands with Birmingham and the science activities of the Lunar Society as its focal point. Contains a great deal of new research into the history of Birmingham and its district in the eighteenth century. Adds significantly to our knowledge of the functioning of the 'Republic of Letters' in the second half of the eighteenth century. The first case-study demonstration of the dynamics of late eighteenth-century Industrial Enlightenment. Offers a re-evaluation of the role of the Lunar Society, its membership and activities, based on archival evidence never before published.