Product Description
In the nineteenth century, scientific practice underwent a dramatic transformation from personal endeavor to business enterprise. In Spectrum of Belief, Myles Jackson explores this transformation through a sociocultural history of the rise of precision optics in Germany. He uses the career of the optician Joseph von Fraunhofer (1787-1826) to probe the relationship between science and society, and between artisans and experimental natural philosophers, during this important transition. Fraunhofer came from a long line of glassmakers. Orphaned at age eleven, the young apprentice moved in with his master, the court decorative glass cutter. At age nineteen, bored with his work and angered by his master's refusal to allow him to study optical theory, Fraunhofer took a position at the Optical Institute assisting in the manufacture of achromatic lenses. Within ten years he was producing the world's finest achromatic lenses and prisms. Housed in an old Benedictine monastery, Fraunhofer's laboratory mirrored the labor of the monks. Because of his secrecy (after his death, even those who had worked most closely with him could not achieve his success), British experimental natural philosophers were unable to reproduce his work. This secrecy, while guaranteeing his institute's monopoly, thwarted Fraunhofer's attempts to gain credibility within the scientific community, which looked down on artisanal work and its clandestine practices as an affront. The response to the ensuing rise of German optical technology sheds light on crucial social, economic, and political issues of the period, such as mechanization, patent law reform, the role of skills in both physics and society, the rise of Mechanics' Institutes, and scientific patronage. After his death, Fraunhofer's example was used in the newly united Germany to argue for the merging of scientific research and technological innovation with industrial and state support.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 2 reviews)

physics and society by W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3)

4 Stars
December 16, 2008
To many physics students, Fraunhofer is just a name associated with classical optics (Cf. Optics by Hecht and Zajac, for example.) Jackson gives us the history of the man, putting him in the context of the Europe and Germany of his time. Careful readers might appreciate the bootstrapping problems faced by Fraunhofer. With the primitive technology of that era, how can you accurately calibrate and measure anything? Part of Fraunhofer's genius was his ability to devise instruments to answer this as best as could be done. In the book, we see as much about the politics and the academic structure of the German universities as there are discussions about the underlying physics. His discoveries and inventions were not universally and readily understood.

Genius at Work by Adam Poush (Salem, OR)

5 Stars
December 08, 2004
You must read this book because it greatly adds knowledge to your brain. I had the great fortune to witness Myles Jackson teach, and easily reccomed this book to all.

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