Science as Public Culture
Chemistry and Enlightenment in Britain, 1760–1820

"A valuable contribution to our understanding of the transformation of chemistry into its modern form." J.L. McKnight, Choice

"...I can whole-heartedly recommend it to anyone interested in the beginnings of modern chemistry or the ways in which science interacts with society." Chris Reynolds, New Scientist

"...the ambitious scope and precise detail enable Golinski to do what no other historian of chemistry has done: unite the major chemists of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries in a wider British context, rather than presenting them merely as representatives of disparate local schools....Science as Public Culture is an important addition to the history of chemistry and of British science generally. It will be of interest to historians of science and of the Enlightenment." Lisa Rosner, Albion

"Golinski has succeeded not only in creating a superb synthesis of the history of chemistry for the period but also in making a readable and persuasive case for the usefulness of the sociology of knowledge in the study of the social history of science. He offers vividly fresh readings of the careers of Priestly, Beddoes, and Davy; and not the least interesting aspect of his story is the way he demonstrates that elements of Enlightenment cooperative and public science lived on in radical, self-improvement, and mechanics'-institute circles." William H. Brock, Bulletin of the History of Medicine

"Jan Golinski's fine book amply demonstrates how dramatically the history of chemistry is being transformed by robust historical contextualism....tracks in various settings the move from private acts of investigation to public presentations of scientific claims. Audiences for science had to be constructed, and acceptable procedures for invoking reason and experimental demonstration had to be negotiated." Arthur Donovan, ISIS

"...fine and multifaceted book....I recommend that readers turn to this book for an engrossing exposé of chemistry and culture in the eighteenth century." Lissa Roberts, Configurations

"...an important contribution to our understanding of how science functions as a part of society." Hugh L. Guilderson, Journal of Social History