John Theophilus Desaguliers: A Natural Philosopher, Engineer and Freemason in Newtonian England

Description

This is the first comprehensive biography of a major, but neglected, figure of his age. John 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 was a major figure of his age.

Audrey T. Carpenter was awarded a PhD in Chemistry from the University of London in 1959. After post-doctoral research she worked as a technical abstractor and librarian before returning to academia as a mature student. She was awarded a PhD in English from Loughborough University in 2010.

Audrey Carpenter's book is essential reading for anyone who wishes to encounter Desaguliers in the round... she has been able to uncover, and here print for the first time, significant pieces of new primary material. This is, in other words, an important work of scholarship. * Ars Quatuor Coronatorum * Carpenter has provided a detailed and comprehensive account of a sociable, scientific, teacher, whose efforts helped to shape the cultural and intellectual life of 18th-century Britain in so many ways. * Proceedings of the Huguenot Society of Great Britain and Ireland, 2012 * Now Audrey Carpenter has combined her passion for science with a very real talent for writing about it to present the first thorough account of the whole man. Her seemingly effortless literary style belies the scientific complexity of the material being presented here, drawing together the hitherto disparate elements of Desaguliers' life and the tenets of Newtonian Natural Philosophy into a wonderfully compelling narrative...Carpenter's work is a fine example of the History of Science at its best, and is likely to be the defining work about Desaguliers and his world for many years to come. -- Andrew Pink * Journal for Research into Freemasonry and Fraternalism * Makes an important and seminal figure ... accessible to a wider audience of readers ... The history of science is richer for [the author's] efforts and students of early-modern science popularization owe Carpenter a debt as her book will become the starting point for all future scholarship on Desaguliers. * Metascience * 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 Carpenter'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