Sound and Science in Nineteenth-Century Britain is a four-volume set of primary sources which seeks to define our historical understanding of the relationship between British scientific knowledge and sound between 1815 and 1900. This collection will be of great interest to students and scholars of the History of Science.
Sound and Science in Nineteenth-Century Britain is a four-volume set of primary sources which seeks to define our historical understanding of the relationship between British scientific knowledge and sound between 1815 and 1900. In the context of rapid urbanization and industrialization, as well as a growing overseas empire, Britain was home to a rich scientific culture in which the ear was as valuable an organ as the eye for examining nature. Experiments on how sound behaved informed new understandings of how a diverse array of natural phenomena operated, notably those of heat, light, and electro-magnetism. In nineteenth-century Britain, sound was not just a phenomenon to be studied, but central to the practice of science itself and broader understandings over nature and the universe. This collection, accompanied by extensive editorial commentary, will be of great interest to students and scholars of the History of Science.
Volume One
Acknowledgements
Chronology
Introduction
Charles Wheatstone, "New Experiments on Sound", Thomsons Annals of
Philosophy, 1823, Vol. vi, (London, England), pp. 81-90.
(Anon.), "The Enchanted Lyre", The Literary Gazette, Vol. 5, (London, 1821),
p.
586.
Thomas Busby, "The Acoucryptophone, or Enchanted Lyre", Concert Room and
Orchestra Anecdotes of Music and Musicians, ancient and modern, Vol. I,
(London, 1825), pp. 9-10.
(Anon.), "Enchanted Lyre", The Circulator of Useful Knowledge, Amusement,
Literature, Science, and General Information, (London, 1825), p.
284.
Charles Wheatstone, "Description of the Kaleidophone, or Phonic
Kaleidoscope", Quarterly Journal of Science, Literature, and Art, Vol. I,
1827, (London, England), pp. 344-51
(Anon.), "The Kaleidophone, or Phonic Kaleidoscope", Mechanics Magazine, 11
Aug., 1827, Vol. 8, (London, England), pp. 49-52.
Charles Wheatstone, "Experiments on Audition", in The Scientific Papers of
Sir Charles Wheatstone, D.C.L., F.R.S, (Taylor and Francis: London, 1879),
pp. 30-5. Originally from the Quarterly Journal of Science,
1827.
Charles Wheatstone, "On the Resonances, or Reciprocated Vibrations of Columns
of Air", Quarterly Journal of Science, Vol. III, 1828, (London, England), pp.
175-83
Charles Wheatstone, "On the Transmission of Musical Sounds Through Solid
Linear Conductors, and on their Subsequent Reciprocation", Journal of the
Royal Institution of Great Britain, No. 5, (John Murray: London, Dec., 1831),
pp. 223-38.
Robert Willis, "On the Vowel Sounds, and on Reed Organ-pipes", Transactions
of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, (Cambridge University Press:
Cambridge, 1829), pp. 1-38.
Charles Wheatstone, "On the Vowel Sounds, and a Reed Organ-pipes", in The
Scientific Papers of Sir Charles Wheatstone, D.C.L., F.R.S, (Taylor and
Francis: London, 1879), pp. 348-67.
(Anon.), "Royal Institution", The Dublin Literary Gazette, or Weekly
Chronicle of Criticism, Belles Lettres, and Fine Arts, Vol. I, (Dublin,
Ireland: 1830), pp. 395-6.
Michael Faraday, "On a Peculiar Class of Acoustical Figures, and on the Forms
of Fluids Vibrating on Elastic Surfaces", Philosophical Transactions of the
Royal Society, Vol. 121, 1831, (London, England), pp. 299-340.
Charles Wheatstone, "On the Figures Obtained by Strewing Sand on Vibrating
Surfaces, Commonly Called Acoustic Figures", Philosophical Transactions of
the Royal Society, Vol. 123, 1833, (London, England), pp. 593-633
Kings College London Library, Charles Wheatstone, "Lectures on Sound",
(1835).
David Brewster, Letters on Natural Magic addressed to Sir Walter Scott, Bart,
(John Murray: London, 1832), pp. 1-7, 157-243.
Felix Savart, "Researches on the Elasticity of Regularly Crystallized
Bodies", Edinburgh Journal of Science, Vol. I, new series, Apr.-Oct., 1829,
(Edinburgh, Scotland), pp. 141-146.
Arthur Trevelyan, "On the Vibration of Heated Metals: By Arthur Trevelyan,
Esq.; Including a Letter on the Same Subject by Dr W. Knight", The London and
Edinburgh Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science, 3rd Series, Nov.,
1833, (London, England), pp. 321-332.
Michael Faraday, "Trevelyans Experiments on the Production of Sound during
the Conduction of Heat", in Michael Faraday, Experimental Researches in
Chemistry and Physics, (Richard Taylor and William Francis: London, 1859),
pp. 311-314.
J. P. Marrian, "On Sonorous Phaenomena in Electro-Magnets", Philosophical
Magazine, Series 3, 25:167, (1844), pp. 382-384.
Bibliography
Index
Volume Two
Acknowledgements
Chronology
Introduction
John Herschel, Sound, Encyclopaedia Metropolitana, Vol. IV, (London, 1830),
pp. 747-824.
John Herschel, A Preliminary Discourse on the Study of Natural Philosophy,
(Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green: London, 1831), pp. 246-264.
Mary Somerville, Mechanism of the Heavens, (John Murray: London, 1831), pp.
lvi-lviii.
Mary Somerville, On the Connexion of the Physical Sciences, (John Murray:
London, 1834), pp. 130-162.
David Brewster, "Review of On the Connexion of the Physical Sciences",
Edinburgh Review, Vol. 59, (Apr., 1834), pp. 154-171.
Mary Somerville, On the Connexion of the Physical Sciences, 2nd Edition,
(John Murray: London, 1835), pp. 148-179 inc. plates 1-4.
William Whewell, Astronomy and General Physics; considered with reference to
natural theology, (William Pickering: London, 1833), pp. 96-118.
William Whewell, History of the Inductive Sciences, from the Earliest to the
Present Time, Vol. 1 of 3, (London: John W. Parker, 1837), pp. 102-105.
William Whewell, History of the Inductive Sciences, from the Earliest to the
Present Time, Vol. 2 of 3, 3rd edition (London: John W. Parker, 1858), pp.
23-47.
William Whewell, The Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences, Founded Upon their
History, Vol. 1 of 2, 2nd Edition, (John W. Parker: London, 1847), pp.
295-306.
Christopher Wordsworth, Sacred Music: A Sermon, Preached at the Anniversary
of the Choral Association of the Diocese of Llandaff, in the Cathedral Church
of Llandaff, Sept., 2, 1868, (Rivingtons: London, 1868), pp. 5-22.
W. Mullinger Higgins, The Philosophy of Sound, and History of Music, (Wm S.
Orr and Co: London, 1838), pp. 7-35
Thomas Aveling, Recreations, Physical and Mental, Lawful and Unlawful: A
Lecture, (London, 1849), pp. 24-29.
Herbert Spencer, Progress: its Law and Cause, in Essays Scientific,
Political, and Speculative, (London: Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans, and
Roberts), pp. 1-54.
Herbert Spencer, "The Origin and Function of Music", in Essays Scientific,
Political, and speculative, (London: Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans, and
Roberts), pp. 359-384.
Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex, Vol 2
of 2, (London: John Murray, 1871), pp. 51-68, 274-278, 330-337.
Herbert Spencer, On the Origin of Music", Mind 16/64 (Oct., 1891), pp.
535-537.
Bibliography
Index
Volume Three
Acknowledgements
Chronology
Introduction
John Goldingham, "Experiments for Ascertaining the Velocity of Sound, at
Madras in the East Indies", Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society,
1823, (London, England), p.
189.
Gerard Moll, "On Captain Parrys and Lieutenant Fosters Experiments on the
Velocity of Sound", Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, 1828
(London, England), pp. 97-104.
John Ross, Narrative of a Second Voyage in Search of a North-West Passage,
and of a Residence in the Arctic Regions, during the Years 1829, 1830, 1831,
1832, 1833, Vol. 1, (A.D. Wahlen: Brussels, 1835), pp. 194-201.
Piazzi Smyth, "On the Methods Adopted to Secure Extreme Accuracy in the
Edinburgh Castle Time-Gun Signal", Transactions of the Royal Scottish Society
of Arts, Vol. VI, 1864 (Edinburgh, Scotland), pp. 136-152.
E. J. Stone, "An Experimental Determination of the Velocity of Sound",
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, 1871, (London, England), pp.
1-6.
John Tyndall, "On the Atmosphere as a Vehicle of Sound", Philosophical
Transactions of the Royal Society, Vol. 164, 1875, (London, England), pp.
183-244.
Benjamin Wyatt, Observations on the Design for the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane,
as Executed in the Year 1812: Accompanied by Plans, Elevation, & Sections, of
the Same (J. Taylor: London, 1813), pp. 1-55.
John Blackburn, "Description of a Sounding Board in Attercliffe Church",
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, 1828, (London, England), pp.
361-363.
John Scott Russell, "Elementary Considerations of Some Principles in the
Construction of Buildings Designed to Accommodate Spectators and Auditors",
The Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, Vol. 27 (Apr.-Oct., 1839), pp.
131-136.
David Boswell Reid, Illustrations of the Theory and Practice of Ventilation,
with Remarks on Warming, Exclusive Lighting, and the Communication of Sound
(London: Longman, Brown, Green & Longmans, 1844), pp. 310-328.
Thomas Roger Smith, A Rudimentary Treatise on The Acoustics of Public
Buildings; or, the Principles of the Science of Sound Applied to the Purposes
of the Architect and Builder (London: John Weale, 1861), pp. 1-160.
(Anon.), "An Imperial Pitchfork", The Spectator, 28 Aug., 1858, (London,
England), pp. 910-911.
(Anon.), "English Committee on Musical Pitch", The Spectator, 18 Jun., 1859,
(London, England), p. 639-640.
John Herschel, "Uniform Musical Pitch", Leeds Mercury, (Leeds, England) 2
Aug., 1859; Issue
6985.
Uniform Musical Pitch. Minutes of a Meeting of Musicians, Amateurs, and
others Interested in Music, Held at the House of the Society of Arts, when
the Report of the Committee Appointed by the Council of the Society was
Received and Adopted, (Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts,
Manufactures, and Commerce: 1860), published in "Uniform Musical Pitch", The
Journal of the Society of Arts, Vol. 8, No. 417, (16 Nov., 1860), pp. 1-8.
Augustus De Morgan, "On the Beats of Imperfect Consonances", Transactions of
the Cambridge Philosophical Society, Vol. 10, (1864), pp. 129-145.
Henry C. Lunn, "Musical Pitch", The Musical Times, and Singing Class
Circular, Vol. 13, No. 312, (1 Feb., 1869), pp. 663-665.
(Anon.), "Orchestral Tuning", The Musical Standard, 26th June, 1875, (London,
England), pp. 409-410.
Alexander J. Ellis, The History of Musical Pitch (London: W. Tounce, 1880),
pp. 293-336.
John Herschel, "On Musical Scales", The Quarterly Journal of Science, No.
XIX, July 1868, (London, England), pp. 338-352.
William Pole, "Explanation of the Musical Scale and its Component Intervals",
in F. A. Gore Ouseley, A Treatise on Harmony, (Clarendon Press: Oxford,
1868), pp. 259-263.
Bibliography
Index
Volume 4
Acknowledgements
Chronology
Introduction
John Tyndall, Sound: A Course of Eight Lectures Delivered at the Royal
Institution of Great Britain, (Longmans, Green, and Co: London, 1867), pp.
vii-ix and 255-325.
George Biddell Airy, On the Elements of Musical Harmony and Melody, and of
Simple Musical Composition, On Sound and Atmospheric Vibrations, with the
Mathematical Elements of Music. Designed for the Use of Students of the
University, (Macmillan and Co: London, 1868), pp. 197-231.
Hermann Helmholtz, On the Sensations of Tone as a Physiological Basis for the
Theory of Music, (Trans.), Alexander J. Ellis, (Longmans, Green, and Co:
London, 1875), pp. v-xi, 11-37, 56-77.
J. W. Strutt, The Theory of Sound, vol. 1 of 2 (Macmillan: London, 1877), pp.
v-vi, 1-66.
J. W. Strutt, The Theory of Sound, vol. 2 of 2 (Macmillan: London, 1877), pp.
85-134.
(Anon.), "Recent Developments in Acoustical Science", 19th Aug., 1878, The
Times, (London, England), Issue 29337, p.
4.
Edmund Gurney, The Power of Sound, (Smith, Elder, & Co: London, 1880), pp.
v-xi, 1-39, 113-126, 178-201, 524-539.
Richard Wallaschek, Primitive Music: An Inquiry into the Origin and
Development of Music, Songs, Instruments, Dances, and Pantomimes of Savage
Races (London: Longmans, Green, and Co, 1893), pp. 237-289.
Bibliography
Index
Dr Edward J. Gillin is Lecturer in the History of Building Sciences and Technology at the Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction in University College London. A cultural historian of nineteenth-century Britain, he specialises in questions of science, technology, and architecture, and how these relate to broader histories of society, politics, and religion.
