Having trouble viewing this email? View an online version http://hps.cmail4.com/t/r/e/trdjirl/xdrwyuty/b/ HISTORY &
PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE Dear HP Eudiometers as Instruments of Enlightenment and the Conflicts of Experimental Philosophy Victor Boantza, Unit for HPS University of Sydney In 1772 Joseph Priestley announced a new method of measuring the "goodness" of airs—the nitrous air test—thus laying the foundation for the practice of eudiometry. In 1783 Henry Cavendish published 'An Account of a New Eudiometer' but concluded that "our sense of smelling can … perceive infinitely smaller alterations in the purity of the air than can be perceived by the nitrous test." During the 1770s–80s eudiometry was widely practiced and hotly disputed. While giving rise to utopian dreams of social, medical, and environmental reforms experimentalists found the instrumental practice difficult to standardize and reconcile with various theoretical and experimental motivations. Examining the ambivalent identity of the eudiometer within its contexts of production and use shows the interplay between experimental skill, accuracy, and simplicity in the generation and dissemination of scientific knowledge in the Enlightenment. SCIENCE MEETING CARSLAW BUILDING ROOM 450 6PM - 7.30PM 8TH AUGUST HPS WEBSITE [http://sydney.edu.au/science/hps/] SCIENCE NEWS [http://www.usyd.edu.au/news/science/] EMAIL US [mailto:[email protected]] FORWARD TO A FRIEND http://hps.forwardtomyfriend.com/r/xdrwyuty/918A8176/trdjirl/l/n [http://style=] To make sure you continue to see our emails in the future, please add [[email protected]] [mailto:[email protected]] to your address book or safe senders list Disclaimer [http://sydney.edu.au/disclaimer.shtml] | Privacy statement [http://sydney.edu.au/privacy.shtml]| University of Sydney [http://sydney.edu.au/] | Unsubscribe http://hps.cmail4.com/t/r/u/trdjirl/xdrwyuty/p/
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