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Goodman, Matthew (2018) from 'Magnetic Fever' to 'Magnetical Insanity': Historical Geographies of British Terrestrial Magnetic Research, 1833- 1857

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Goodman, Matthew (2018) from 'Magnetic Fever' to 'Magnetical Insanity': Historical Geographies of British Terrestrial Magnetic Research, 1833- 1857 Goodman, Matthew (2018) From 'magnetic fever' to 'magnetical insanity': historical geographies of British terrestrial magnetic research, 1833- 1857. PhD thesis. https://theses.gla.ac.uk/30829/ Copyright and moral rights for this work are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This work cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Enlighten: Theses https://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] From ‘magnetic fever’ to ‘magnetical insanity’: historical geographies of British terrestrial magnetic research, 1833-1857 Matthew Goodman Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) School of Geographical and Earth Sciences College of Science and Engineering University of Glasgow Contents Abstract................................................................................................................................................................ 5 List of Figures .................................................................................................................................................... 6 Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................................................... 7 Author’s Declaration ......................................................................................................................................... 9 Abbreviations and Conventions .................................................................................................................. 10 Chapter 1: Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 11 The magnetic crusade: system of observation ..................................................................................... 11 Magnetic fever, magnetical insanity ....................................................................................................... 17 Thesis structure ......................................................................................................................................... 19 Chapter 2: Methods ......................................................................................................................................... 23 Collaboration with the Royal Society ..................................................................................................... 23 Other archives ........................................................................................................................................... 24 Building 17, Ottawa Geomagnetic Observatory. British Geological Survey, Lyell Centre, Edinburgh ................................................................................................................................................... 25 Rethinking the geomagnetic data archive ............................................................................................. 28 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................. 32 Chapter 3: Literature review ......................................................................................................................... 34 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................ 34 Section I: The physical sciences between the seventeenth and the nineteenth centuries ............ 35 Terrestrial magnetism in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries ............................................ 35 The magnetic crusade ......................................................................................................................... 40 The physical sciences in Britain in the nineteenth century ............................................................ 44 Geomagnetic research on the continent ........................................................................................... 49 Section II: Geographies of science ........................................................................................................ 52 The genesis of the historical geography of science ........................................................................ 52 Historical geographies of science ...................................................................................................... 57 The circulation of scientific knowledge.............................................................................................. 63 Instrument knowledges ....................................................................................................................... 76 Unpacking the (geomagnetic) data archive...................................................................................... 79 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................. 83 Chapter 4: Proving instruments credible in the early nineteenth century: The British Magnetic Survey and site-specific experimentation .............................................................................. 86 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................ 86 Course of the survey ................................................................................................................................ 87 Lloyd’s practical education and instruments in the BMS .................................................................... 92 The trouble with needles .......................................................................................................................... 97 Instrument makers and the BMS .......................................................................................................... 100 Site-specific experimentation ................................................................................................................ 102 Changing places ..................................................................................................................................... 104 Putting to print ......................................................................................................................................... 106 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................... 111 Chapter 5: Instruments on the move in the North American Magnetic and Meteorological Survey, 1843-44 .............................................................................................................................................. 114 2 Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 114 Origin of the Survey ................................................................................................................................ 116 The survey and its actors ...................................................................................................................... 122 Instruments: moving, changing, changed ........................................................................................... 129 The Fox and Gambey ............................................................................................................................ 133 Fixes ......................................................................................................................................................... 136 A multiplicity of hands: indigenous and other ..................................................................................... 138 Mobile/static, inanimate/animate .......................................................................................................... 141 Legacy and Conclusion.......................................................................................................................... 145 Chapter 6: Establishing observatories on the British magnetic scheme ....................................... 150 Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 150 The observatories ................................................................................................................................... 152 Dublin Observatory ............................................................................................................................ 153 St Helena Magnetic and Meteorological Observatory .................................................................. 156 The Cape of Good Hope Magnetic and Meteorological Observatory ........................................ 159 Toronto Magnetic and Meteorological Observatory ...................................................................... 161 Rossbank Observatory, Van
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