HPSC 3007
TOPICS IN THE HISTORY OF THE PHYSICAL SCIENCES
Prof. Hasok Chang
Department of Science and Technology Studies, UCL
Choosing a project, 2008-09
This year, you may start a new line of enquiry within the theme of "Electricity: invention and discovery", or inherit one of the projects begun in 2007-08 and develop it.
Projects available for inheritance
The following is a brief description of projects that students in this course undertook in 2007-08. You may choose one of them for further development.
WHAT IS ELECTRICITY?
J. J. Thomson is generally recognized as having discovered the electron in 1897 at the age of 40. Given that he was at the forefront of experimental and theoretical research why was it that he continued to use the term “corpuscle” while others had adopted the term electron and developed theories which employed the aether which experiments had failed to detect? It has been argued, based in part on the little he wrote of his philosophical inclinations, that his belief in the aether was metaphysical and he considered the corpuscle or electron as a mere epiphenomenon of the aether. Based on this argument I attempt to show that his position is one in which he was a realist with regard to the aether, for which he had no proof, and an antirealist with regard to the electron, for which he had plenty of proof.
2. Charlotte Connelly, "Measuring Electric Current"
The ability to measure electric current is dependent on several factors; there must be suitable technology available to measure the current, and, perhaps more importantly, some theoretical understanding of what electric current is, is required. During the eighteenth and nineteenth century the understanding of electricity was variously changeable, imaginative and in many cases incorrect according to today’s knowledge. However, by the start of the twentieth century most of the basic rules governing electricity were understood and were in use in the already well-established commercial applications of electricity. This essay discusses the state of electrical understanding at the start of the nineteenth century in order to place Oersted’s finding, that electricity and magnetism were linked, in a context. It goes on to describe advances in the galvanometer, a tool for measuring electrical current, through to the modern day ammeter. Finally there is a brief discussion of the philosophy of discovery and how it applies to measurement and quantification.
3. Alexandra Sinclair, "Development of the ion in electrochemical theory"
The aim of this paper is to follow the development of understanding as to the relationship between chemical action and electrical conductance when a constant current is applied to a conducting liquid. How at various stages it was perceived that the electrical current travelled from one electrode to the other, depending on the current view of the agent of electricity and the technology available. Formative electrochemical theories where first postulated after the development of Volta’s pile and the chemical changes it caused. The subsequent period was one of scientific creativity, experimentally and theoretically that culminated in the identification of the key aspects of electrochemical theory that would subsequently be quantified by Faraday by the introduction of the ion. (NOTE: Alex will be continuing her research on this topic in 2008-09, especially with a focus on Faraday, so anyone wanting to take up this topic will need to coordinate with her carefully.)
ELECTRICITY, TECHNOLOGY AND ECONOMY
4. David Kinahan, "Struggling to Take Root: The Work of the Electro-culture Committee of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries between 1918 and 1936 and its Fight for Acceptance"
Although it sounds odd today, many scientists and entrepreneurs have explored the idea of using electricity to make plants grow faster since the 18 th century. In 1918, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries were so enticed by the idea that they set up a committee to investigate. Here, the work of this committee is discussed in some detail using the eighteen Interim Reports that they published between 1918 and 1936, the year that they were disbanded. Furthermore, reasons why the committee was axed despite some considerable successes are considered. It is concluded that the electro-culture effect is a real one, and that the Committee was axed as a result of economic pressures, not because the idea was wrong.
Thomas Edison (1847-1831) is commonly considered the inventor of the incandescent light bulb. However, many other inventors claim to have played a role in its invention. One in particular, the English chemist Joseph Swan (1828-1914), managed with some success to defend his priority while alive and further attempts to set the record straight have been made by family members or historians close to the family.In this paper I assess the cogency of Swan’s claim of priority by reconstructing the timeline of Edison’s and Swan’s inventions and the relation between the two. Besides, I shall try to understand the reasons for the oblivion into which Swan’s memory has fallen and for Edison’s success in establishing himself as the inventor of the incandescent lamp. In reconstructing the buildup to Edison’s success, I’ll first use a naïve social constructivist approach resorting to broad social explanations; by showing its limits, I aim to indicate how a the better explanation might provided by an alternative, more sophisticated kind of social explanation. (NOTE: Andrea will be continuing his research on this topic in 2008-09, so anyone wanting to take up this topic will need to coordinate with him carefully.)
6. Olivier Grubestedt , "How did gas companies survived the advent of electric lighting?"
This essay examines how gas companies survived the advent of electric lighting. When reports of Edison’s first incandescent electric light were announced the price of British gas shares began deteriorating rapidly. Instead of an expected decline in the gas industry, the number of customers actually trebled and the gas sales doubled. This outcome was due to the response of gas companies who created a new market of gas appliances. In addition to the gas appliances there were other beneficial economic factors such as a significant fall in the prices of the gas industry’s two main inputs. The emergence of two technological innovations became crucial for the gas industry’s survival. The pre-payment meter made a mass market possible and the Welsbach mantle improved the illuminating power of gas lighting to a great extent. The gas industry had the advantage of having secured itself both economically and legislatively. The electrical industry was hampered by its infancy as there was a lack of technology and expertise. It faced a considerable cost disadvantage which was caused to some extent by judicial factors and that they could not achieve economies of scale. It would thus be fair to conclude that the gas companies survived the advent of electrical lighting through a number of interlinked factors.
ELECTRICITY, THE HUMAN BODY AND SOCIETY
7. Kwab’na Agyeman-Mensah, "At the heartbeat of electrocardiography: Does the development of the electrocardiograph fit Kuhn’s theory of scientific discovery?"
The electrocardiograph is one the most significant examples of the adaptation of electricity and its properties to medicine. It is the most commonly used procedure in the field of cardiology. It is advantageous as it is non-invasive, the results are easy to comprehend and it is cheap. It could be said that it is one of the most influential medical invention as it is used across the globe. It has remained a top procedure irrespective of advancements in the field of cardiology for over one hundred years. This essay evaluates the development of the electrocardiography and the different contributors to its establishment as a medical field. Kuhn’s theory of scientific discovery is also applied and analysed as it applies to electrocardiography. This article also illustrates why the establishment of the field of electrocardiography does not fit a Kuhnian model, as well as depicting the similarities and differences between the history and the philosophy.
8. Tahera Begum, "Electrocution: A Modern and humane method of execution?"
The human body has long been known to be a conductor of electricity. This biological predisposition to such electrical conduction has resulted in electricity being used in unique and innovative ways on the human body, electroconvulsive therapy and electrocardiograms being a couple of examples. In the late nineteenth century various events in New York triggered the invention of a new method of execution – electrocution. The story of how electricity was appropriated for capital punishment is a stunning historical case study on how different elements of society ranging from economic, social, medical and legal aspects interact over one commonality in order to achieve and forward their respective self-interests. The story and the issues associated with the electric chair is essentially a human-interest story, close analysis of this episode can provide insights and illumination into various aspects about capital punishment in existence today. My paper is divided into two sections. The first provides a background on the topic by giving a history of the electric chair. The second will then tackle the question of whether electrocution was a modern and humane method of execution as it was claimed to be by its advocates.
9. Mihwa Han, "Why is electrotorture categorized as ‘clean’ torture?"
Torture is supposedly banned and unaccepted worldwide. There are various legislations that exist to protect potential victims against the acts of torture. The effectiveness of such legislations can be questioned, as torture still exists to this day. Torture does not seem to be something that can ‘disappear’: the existence of torture is embedded within centuries of history. However, as more and more legislations are drawn up to prevent the acts of torture, there is an increasing need to use methods that leave minimal scars and marks. Electrotorture is one of many forms of torture which is identified as a clean torture technique. When used carelessly, electrotorture can leave the victim with devastating scars, but when used carefully, it can leave almost no signs of its use. However, although electrotorture may not leave any visible scars, it still leaves the victim with scars that are not visible to the eye, such as memory loss. I discuss whether electrotorture should be understood as a form of clean torture.
10. Marie-Claire Hawthorne, "A shocking question: Why use electricity to induce convulsions in the treatment of mental illness?"
I will show in this essay the steps that led to the discovery of electroconvulsive therapy. I will show that electricity has been part of western culture since the Greeks and became part of social culture from the eighteenth century with gadgets for everyday life but also in medical practice. I will show the evolution from the discovery that convulsions can be curative with Wagner-Jauregg to Meduna’s work to find safe and efficient convulsive agents to finally Cerletti’s innovation of using electrically provoked convulsions as a somatic treatment for mental disorders. I will assess the rapid rise of its popularity and global uptake and I will argue that the reasons for this were mainly economic. The prompt recoveries from ECT treatments led to a fast turnover. Its simplicity meant reduced need for expert staff that were in short supply during the second World War.
New topics
The history of electricity is a huge area of research, so there are plenty of topics that no one in the class has approached yet, including the following:
• Ancient discovery of static electricity
• The Leyden Jar
• Franklin, kites, churches, and lightning-rod design
• Electricity for polite amusement (ref. Patricia Fara)
• Coulomb, Cavendish and the law of electrostatics
• The torpedo (fish)
• Galvanism: Galvani vs. Volta (ref. Marcello Pera)
• The Voltaic pile: easy diffusion and hard understanding
• The "dry pile" of De Luc
• The discovery and defence of Ohm’s Law
• Electrolysis for chemistry and industry
• Electricity in German Romanticism (ref. Walter Wetzels)
• Self-experimentation and genius: Volta, Ritter, Tesla (ref. Simon Schaffer)
• Berzelius’s dualistic theory of chemistry (ref. Evan Melhado)
• Who figured out nerve signals were electrical? From Lamarck to Eccles
• Oersted’s discovery of electromagnetism
• Faraday’s visual process of discovery (ref. David Gooding)
• Did telegraphy really spring from empire? (ref. Crosbie Smith and Norton Wise)
• Maxwell and mechanical models of the aether
• Discovery by unification? Light and electromagnetism
• Edison and the light bulb: invention by trial-and-error?
• The “battle of systems” (ref. Thomas Hughes)
• The selling of electricity (ref. Graeme Gooday)
• “Forging the scientist-engineer”, e.g. Ambrose Fleming (ref. Sungook Hong)
• The confirmation of superconductivity
• The photoelectric effect and automatic doors
• Discovery by error? Dirac on holes and positrons
• The meaning of “semiconductor” and its discovery
Identifying the topic and the question
Whether you inherit an existing topic or forge a new path, you will need to define your own project carefully. In defining your project, it is not enough to choose a discovery or innovation to look into. It is crucial to define a question which your work is going to attempt to answer. It is best if the question is an initial puzzle, which your work can resolve. There are various types of research questions you can ask:
• Why did this innovation take so long to be accepted?
• Why did this innovation not take root?
• How were viable alternatives eliminated?
• How was this innovation disseminated?
• Did this discovery result in the formation of a new community or field of study?
• Did this discovery result in a new way of life?
• What were the resources and contexts required for this innovation?
• Why was it this particular person or group of people who was/were able to make this innovation?
• How closely linked were abstract theory and concrete practice?
• What was the causal relation between the scientific discovery and the practical application?
• Was there incommensurability created by this innovation?
• Why have historians paid little attention to this important innovation?
• How have historians distorted this particular aspect of this innovation?
• What can this discovery teach us about the “logic of scientific discovery”?
Identifying the topic and the question may actually take a good deal of work, but you should try to get that done in the first two weeks of the course, given the time constraint we have. Often, valuable questions spring up in the form of your own disagreement with the interpretation of events given in secondary sources. Then your question will have the added dimension of "Was so-and-so correct in arguing that..."