The Victorian Palace of Science: Scientific Knowledge and the Building of the Houses of Parliament (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781108419666)

The Palace of Westminster, home to Britain's Houses of Parliament, is one of the most studied buildings in the world. What is less well known is that while Parliament was primarily a political building, when built between 1834 and 1860, it was also a place of scientific activity. The construction of Britain's legislature presents an extraordinary story in which politicians and officials laboured to make their new Parliament the most radical, modern building of its time by using the very latest scientific knowledge. Experimentalists employed the House of Commons as a chemistry laboratory, geologists argued over the Palace's stone, natural philosophers hung meat around the building to measure air purity, and mathematicians schemed to make Parliament the first public space where every room would have electrically-controlled time. Through such dramatic projects, Edward J. Gillin redefines our understanding of the Palace of Westminster and explores the politically troublesome character of Victorian science.

Author: Edward J. Gillin
ISBN-10: 1108419666
ISBN-13: 9781108419666
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Language: English
Published: 11/09/2017
Pages: 340
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.49lbs
Size: 9.47h x 6.44w x 0.85d

Review Citation(s):
Choice 10/01/2018