The Study of Magnetism and Terrestrial Magnetism in Great Britain, C 1750-1830 Robinson Mclaughry Yost Iowa State University
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Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Retrospective Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 1997 Lodestone and earth: the study of magnetism and terrestrial magnetism in Great Britain, c 1750-1830 Robinson McLaughry Yost Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd Part of the European History Commons, and the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine Commons Recommended Citation Yost, Robinson McLaughry, "Lodestone and earth: the study of magnetism and terrestrial magnetism in Great Britain, c 1750-1830 " (1997). Retrospective Theses and Dissertations. 11758. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/11758 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Retrospective Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. 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UMI A Bell & Howell Infonnation Company 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Ariwr MI 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 Lodestone and earth: The study of magnetism and terrestrial magnetism in Great Britain, c. 1750-1830 by Robinson McLaughry Yost A dissertation submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of iXCrOR OF PHILOSOPHY Major: History of Technology and Science Major Professor: David Ball Wilson Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 1997 UMI Number: 9725471 UMI Microform 9725471 Copyrigiit 1997, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 ii Graduate College Iowa State University This is to certify that the Doctoral dissertation of Robinson McLaughry Yost has met the thesis requirements of Iowa State University Signature was redacted for privacy. Committee Member Signature was redacted for privacy. Jommittee Member Signature was redacted for privacy. Committee Member Signature was redacted for privacy. Committ Signature was redacted for privacy. Major Professor Signature was redacted for privacy. For the Major Program Signature was redacted for privacy. For the Graduate College ii i TABLE OF COf\nB^ Page CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION (c.1600-1750) 1 CHAPTER 2; GLOBAL MAGNETIC COLLECTING (c.1750-1835) 5 1 CHAPTER 3: MAGNETISM: MYSTERIOUS, IMPORTANT. CONFUSING (c.1750-1790) 1 1 0 CHAPTER 4: PONDERING THE IMPONDERABLE (c.1775-1815) 1 62 CHAPTER 5: FRENCH PHYSICS IN GREAT BRITAIN (c.1800-1820) 21 4 CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION: NATURE'S FORCES UNITED? (c.1800-1835) 260 BIBUOGRAPHY 344 iv ACKNOWLEDGBVIEI^ Many assisted in completing this dissertation. 1 would like to thank them for their help and support. My stay at the Linda Hall Library in Kansas City, Missouri, as 1996 Summer Research Fellow contributed significantly to my research. I particularly thank Bruce Bradley for his patient and friendly assistance. I also thank Leslie Overstreet of the Smithsonian Institution Libraries (Special Collections) for her assistance during my brief visit. Thank you as well to Dr. Gregory A. Good whose encouragement at the 1995 History of Science meeting, e-mail correspondence, and generous loaning of a dissertation helped me enormously. Also a thanks to Iowa State's Interiibrary Loan (particulariy Frank Dunnick) whose efficiency placed many difficult-to-reach sources within my grasp. I also thank my major professor, David B. Wilson, for reading drafts of the various chapters. His insightful comments kept me on the right track. Thanks as well to the professors who have given me direct and indirect encouragement; these include Robert Schofield, Alan I Marcus, Alan Wilt, Don Rawson, Ken Madison, Andrejs Plakans, and Philip Zaring. Also a big thank you to Carole Kennedy for her help and support. Last but not least, thanks go to family and friends. In particular, my parents for their love and support. Also, I thank Jeff Weber, Anne Slakey, Phil Frana, Theresa Rudd, Herb Folsom, Alison Kovac, Stephanie Carpenter, and Bruce Homann. I cannot forget my long-time Ames roommates, Trudi, Peter, and Dylan Matthews: without their friendship I never would have finished. A personal thank you to Laura Lacasa, my best friend, for her support and love. Finally, I thank God for getting me through these six stressful, yet challenging years. 1 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION (C.I 600-1750) In 1683, English astronomer and natural philosopher Edmund Halley presented a paper to the Royal Society of London addressing what he called the "Magnetical System." Of this system Halley reflected; There are difficulties that occur that render the thing as yet not feasible, for first there are a great many observations requisite, which ought to be made at the same time; not at Sea, but ashore; with greater care and attention than the generality of Baylors apply. And besides it remains undetermined in what proportion the [magnetic] attractive power decreases, as you remove from the Pole of a Magnet; without which it were a vain attempt to go about to calculate. There is yet a further difficultie, which is the change of the variation . which shews, that it will require some Hundreds of years to establish a compleat doctrine of the Magnetical System.^ Nearly two and half centuries later, American geophysicist Louis Agricola Bauer delivered the 1913 "Halley Lecture" at Oxford University. In this lecture he remarked on the study of terrestrial magnetism: In spite of the accumulated facts of over three centuries, we are still unable to say definitely to what the Earth's magnetic field is really due. Perhaps we may not be able to solve the riddle until the physicist answers for us the questions: What is a magnet? What is magnetism, in general?^ Both men's statements emphasized the importance of accumulated facts over time and the enduring mysteries of the subject at hand, magnetism. Also, for Halley and Bauer, understanding terrestrial magnetism required an intimate acquaintance with magnetism. In addition to these obvious similarities, however, the differences between Bauer and Halley are revealing as well. Published only four years before Isaac Newton's Principia (1687), Halley's paper appeared near the culmination of the "scientific revolution," a period of transformation in the institutions, goals, methods, and content of natural philosophy. Be that as it may, the science emerging from this "revolution" was not modern science. Hence, the "physics" of Halley's period was quite distinct from Bauer's "physics" more than two centuries later. These general differences regarding 2 physics applied to their specific views on magnetism as well. While both men demonstrated considerable interest in magnetism, their motives and methods diverged greatly. Haliey wrote of the "Magnetical system" and the "Saylor," while Bauer spoke of the "Earth's magnetic field" and the "physicist." While Halley's prime motivation for understanding magnetism was its navigational application, Bauer stressed its inherent scientific interest. Not surprisingly, the answers to "What is a magnet?" and "What is magnetism, in general?" differed dramatically as well. By focusing on a portion of the two-century span between Halley and Bauer, this dissertation traces the shifting motives, methods, theories, and debates regarding the study of magnetism from 1750 to 1830. Placed firmly between the late seventeenth and early twentieth centuries, this eighty-year span witnessed transformations in the understanding of magnetism as well as changing views regarding terrestrial magnetic phenomena. Throughout the period, most investigators linked their controlled magnetic experiments with the phenomena of terrestrial magnetism. In other words, they assumed that both acted in an analogous manner. Stressing, but not limited to, the specific context of British science, this dissertation examines the study of magnetism and its links to terrestrial magnetic studies. Before delving into these topics, a wider historiographical and historical context should be established for perspective. To this end, this chapter has