Ch F-X ang PD e w Click to buy NOW! w m o w c .d k. ocu-trac The Lunar Society The Lunar Circle or Society was an informal club or association of significant scientific men which flourished in and around Birmingham for nearly forty years. Origins: The origins of the Lunar Society lie in a pattern of friendships that emerged in the late 1750s. Erasmus Darwin and Matthew Boulton first met in early 1757, possibly through family connections, as Boulton's mother's family were patients of Darwin; or possibly though shared friendships, as both were admirers of the printer John Baskerville and friends of the astronomer and geologist John Michell, a regular visitor to Darwin's house in Lichfield1. Darwin was a physician and poet who had studied at Cambridge and Edinburgh; Boulton had left school at fourteen and started work in his father's business making metal goods in Birmingham at the age of 21. Despite their different backgrounds they shared a common interest in experiment and invention, and their activities would show Darwin's theoretical understanding and Boulton's practical experience to be complementary2. Soon they were visiting each other regularly and conducting investigations into scientific subjects such as electricity, meteorology and geology3. Erasmus Darwin Matthew Boulton In 1758, first Boulton and then Darwin became friends of the Derby-based clockmaker John Whitehurst. The link began with Whitehurst supplying clock movements to Boulton’s manufacturing operation but then extended into other experiments. Boulton, Darwin and Whitehurst were in turn introduced by Mitchell to Benjamin Franklin on his visit to Birmingham in July 1758 "to improve and increase Acquaintance among Persons of Influence"4, and Franklin returned in 1760 to conduct experiments with Boulton on electricity and sound5. By the early 1760s they were visiting each other; Boulton was often in Lichfield and Darwin an occasional visitor to Birmingham. Among the other associates were Josiah Wedgwood, who had been attended by a young Dr Erasmus Darwin in 1755 and Rev. Dr. Joseph Priestley who had been introduced to Wedgwood in 17626, and known to Darwin and the others for many years due to his writings and his delighted in experiments. (Priestley was known to Boulton through their mutual work on electricity. Priestly also his invented soda water, and discovered several "airs" (gases), the most famous being what Priestley dubbed "dephlogisticated air" (oxygen).) 1 Ch F-X ang PD e w Click to buy NOW! w m o w c .d k. ocu-trac Boulton, in sole charge of the business since the death of his father in 1759, set up his Soho Manufactory in 1765. He was supported by John Baskerville, who had lived in Birmingham since the 1720s and had been a long term friend and financier to the Boultons. Dr William Small moved to Birmingham in 1765 and presented himself to Boulton with an introductory letter from Franklin7. He was soon a key part of the group. Wedgwood sought out Darwin in 1765 when he was exploring a navigation scheme. Darwin introduced him to Whitehurst. Richard Lovell Edgeworth, a young Irish inventor, arrived in the Midlands in 1766 and was taken under Darwin’s wing. Edgeworth then soon introduced his friend Thomas Day to the others. Captain James Keir had studied medicine with Darwin in Edinburgh but left to join the army. On leaving the army he also came to Lichfield at this time. James Watt was a surveyor for canals in 1766 and came to Birmingham in spring 1767. Boulton was away but Small took him around Soho, and he stayed at Lichfield with Darwin. The three took to each other at once.8 Michell seems to have withdrawn from the group when he moved to Leeds in 17679. Franklin was to remain a common link among many of the early members10. In 1767 Darwin, Keir and Whitehurst all visited Wedgwood at his Pottery. Wedgwood first visited Soho in May 1767 and.Boulton became involved with the supply of materials for him. Wedgwood became a welcome guest/member of the Lunar Circle from around 1768*. [*Some class Wedgwood as a full member but Miss Meteyard, the biographer of Wedgwood, says he was not a member of the Lunar Society, but a guest.11] When James Watt visited Soho in 1768 on his way from London to Glasgow, Dr. Small, Dr. Darwin, and Capt. Keir were invited to meet him at “Hotel d'Amitie sur Handsworth Heath” as Matthew Boulton styled his hospitable mansion. 2 Ch F-X ang PD e w Click to buy NOW! w m o w c .d k. ocu-trac The 1st Phase: March 1766 – 1775 The Circle or society met often and was a dinner club and informal learned society of prominent figures in the Midlands Enlightenment, including industrialists, natural philosophers and intellectuals The society evidently served the purpose of a scientific exchange, each member contributing at the monthly meeting results of his own observations, and reporting news from without the circle. Before the establishment of weekly journals of science, this exchange was the natural means of intercommunication, just as the Athenians gathered on Mars Hill "to tell or to hear some new thing" in the political world. The society's meetings gave its name and social focus, but much more activity and communication took place outside the meetings themselves with members local to Birmingham being in almost daily contact, while those more distant ones being in correspondence at least weekly.12 The society seems further to have been chosen by persons from a distance as a channel for announcing their own discoveries or those of others to scientists who would appreciate and publish them. For those who couldn’t make the meetings, letters were the obvious link. March 1766 seems a reasonable date for the formal commencement of these social gatherings. The Patriarch of the Society was Dr. Erasmus Darwin. He was the main catalyst. Boulton was the organiser. Small held the group together with calmness and friendship. Monthly meetings were usually around Birmingham with Boulton, Watt and Small regularly acting as host13 to between 8 -14 members and guests. Members at this time with Matthew Boulton and Erasmus Darwin – Dr. William Small, John Baskerville, John Whitehurst, Richard Edgeworth, Thomas Day, James Watt, & Captain James Keir. Soho House home of Matthew Boulton - a regular venue for meetings of the Lunar Society Wedgwood was one of those who attended. When he visited London he planned his journeys so that he could travel via Birmingham and attend the meetings both going and returning. His wife often accompanied him.14 In 1771 Wedgwood also made some new contacts that would become significant: he was visited by a William Withering, and then Priestley renewed contact with him. 3 Ch F-X ang PD e w Click to buy NOW! w m o w c .d k. ocu-trac All the world came to Soho to meet Boulton, Watt or Small, who were acquainted with the leading men of Science throughout Europe and America. Its essential sociability meant that any might be invited to attend its meetings."15 The group at this time is sometimes referred to as the "Lunar circle", though this is a later description used by historians, and the group themselves used a variety of less specific descriptions, including "Birmingham Philosophers" or simply "fellow- schemers".16 The 2nd Phase: 1775 - 1780 1755 saw a number of significant changes to the Circle. Small and Baskerville both died and Whitehurst moved to London. Dr. William Withering was known by Wedgwood and Darwin and was now recruited by Darwin to take over Small’s work. So he moved to Birmingham in 1775. From the start, Small had been the key link between the members, and in his absence those remaining moved to place the group on a more organised footing. New Year’s Eve 1775 (31st December 1775)17 was probably the start of this more formal ‘Lunar Society’ – the name being first recorded in 177618. For the next 5 years they chose to meet on the Sunday nearest the full moon, with dinner at 2pm and carrying on to 8pm. At the Meeting on Sunday 3rd March 1776 at Soho, Boulton presented various motions concerning laws and regulations to prevent the decline of the Society.19 Apparently, the society kept no records of its meetings, but scanty notices of its proceedings can be gathered from the correspondence of its members. Everyone tried hard to make the regular meetings but people were often travelling on business and over the next couple of years it seemed that it would be impossible to carry on. Letters became as important as meetings. For these reasons, many of the meetings between 1775-8 seem to have been at Soho House. This reliance on Boulton was also to prove a weakness, however, as the period coincided with the peak of his work building up his steam engine business and he was frequently absent. Although the 1770s was one of the society's richest eras in terms of its collaborative achievements, the society's meetings declined from regular occurrences in 1775 to infrequent ones by the end of the decade.20 Without Small to keep harmony, frictions began to arise between members. Around 1780 Keir was let down by Boulton in a business venture and ended all links to the Soho Factory. Boulton realised his mistake and by his charm managed to salvage their friendship. At about the same time Darwin published various works but ignored the contributions made by Withering. Whatever the reason behind it the two rowed and Darwin and Withering hardly spoke again.