SCIENTIFIC ADVICE
TO THE NINETEENTH-CENTURY BRITISH STATE
This book, and its companion Case Studies in Scientific Advice to the Nineteenth-Century British State (see below), offers the first detailed analysis of the provision of scientific, engineering, and medical advice to the nineteenth-century British government, parliament, the civil service, and the military.
In twenty-first-century Britain, scientific advice to government is highly organized, integrated across government departments, and led by a chief scientific adviser who reports directly to the prime minister. But at the end of the eighteenth century, when my account begins, things were very different.
At a time that witnessed huge scientific advances and vast industrial development, and as the British state sought to respond to societal, economic, and environmental challenges, practitioners of science, engineering, and medicine were drawn into close involvement with politicians. I focus here on the essential role that experts played in proffering scientific advice to the state, and the impact of that advice on public policy. I explore the contributions of these emerging experts, the motivations behind their involvement, their interactions with the politicians and civil servants, and the forces that constrained the ways by which their advice was received and acted upon.
Case Studies in Scientific Advice to the Nineteenth-Century British State
This is the companion volume, containing 31 case studies that could not make the cut in the main volume. They range from vaccination and public works, and from graveyards to the colour of army uniforms.
This book also contains two appendices that identify 149 members of parliament (MP) in the nineteenth century who were also fellows of the Royal Society, and the relatively few MPs during the century who had significant scientific, engineering or medical expertise. I believe these are the most comprehensive such analyses to date.
The book is available on Amazon as hardback (£14.99), paperback (£9.99) and Kindle (£2.99) versions.
