The Lunar Men: Five Friends whose Curiosity Changed the World

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A lovely in-depth look at the men behind the Industrial Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment in the mid-19th century West Midlands of England, focussing especially on Erasmus Darwin as the key figure, but also looking at Matthew Boulton, Josiah Wedgwood, Joseph Priestley, James Watt, Richard Lovell Edgeworth and Samuel Galton, and a number of others whose names I was less familiar with. They were all members of the Lunar Society, which met monthly in Birmingham from the 1760s to around the end of the century.

There is a lot of loving detail about their lives, with common threads including Methodism and other minority Protestant traditions (especially show more Quakers); pottery; lots of children (Darwin had fourteen with his two wives, and maybe more besides); investments; the abolition of slavery; and of course engineering. It could have been overwhelming, but it’s broken up with black-and-white illustrations and some lovely plates. I was particularly struck by Joseph Wright’s paintings of the orrery and the air pump.

I learned a lot from this; in particular I realised how well the author had managed to gain my sympathy when I found myself horrified by the 1791 Priestley Riots, where a right-wing mob targeted the local religious minorities in Birmingham, including especially the vulnerable and visible Joseph Priestley; the local authorities appear to have colluded in the outbreak of violence and then (as usual) blamed the victims for bringing it on themselves. Some things never change.

Anyway, this is a tremendously engaging book about a part of history that I should have known more about; and now I do. show less

I am in awe of this lady! I would find it difficult to write the biography of a single person: to take on that of a group, would appear madness!

Not to Jenny Uglow, she takes it in her stride. She seems to effortlessly pass from one member to another and to keep the characters as separate personae. Whilst reading, I never once got confused as to whether a certain character was the one with a set trait, or another.

The only people that I could admire as much, are her subjects - the Lunar Men. These are a group of eighteenth century men of science; Wedgwood, Boulton,Watt et al, who communicated regularly and met monthly (on the night of the full moon, so that there was light to find their way home!) At this early stage in science, the world show more was ruled by amateurs who could move effortlessly from chemistry to biology to physics. Their grasp of concepts which the lay man struggles with today, is truly awesome.

This book is am eminently simple read but filled with information. I defy anyone to read this book and nit be entertained and enlightened. show less

What was happening in England, during the Georgian period, was dramatic. In two generations, roughly from 1730 to 1800, the country changed from a mainly agricultural nation into an emerging industrial force. The same time, new political ideas and revolutions, transformed the social and political status quo and forged the British Empire, affecting the lives of millions and opening the way to the industrialised age.

Within this political and social unrest, a diverse group of men, in Birmingham, are pursuing, as a hobby, scientific knowledge. Each of them has its own strong character and temperament. All are passionate, venturous, and progressive. They found a society, the Lunar Society of Birmingham. Their meetings are held every month, show more on a date near the full moon, starting with dinner at two and following with discussions and experiments until late evening. The discussed topics are many and diverse, from literature and philosophy to chemistry and engineering. These are the Lunar men, the men that by using science and technology, transform the way of doing things and lead the way towards the industrial revolution.

The ingenious engineer James Watt, who improved the Newcomen’s design and created with his partner Matthew Boulton, a market for a new, improved steam engine. The same Matthew Boulton, the “toymaker” who also established the Soho manufactory north of Birmingham and when asked by the George III what he was doing for living, he replied: “I am engaged, your majesty, in the production of a commodity which is the desire of Kings”. When the King what was that, Boulton said “Power, your Majesty”.

The potter Josiah Wedgwood, the fist to industrialise pottery manufacturing; he experimented with a wide variety of pottery techniques and used artists to garnish his vases. His interests were many and diverse, and it was in his house, the Etruria Hall, where photography was first invented.

Joseph Priestley, a theologian and natural philosopher, a teacher and political theorist. His work is vast, it is expanded to scientific inventions, most considerable his invention of soda water. He wrote about electricity and photosynthesis but become famous with the discovery of oxygen – the “dephlogisticated air” as he dubbed it. He was a minister within the Unitarian church and his theses about political and civil liberties caused strong opposition. His house and books were burnt by the mobs during the riots against intellectualism; his exile to America was the start of the end for the Lunar Society.

Perhaps the most interesting figure in the book is Erasmus Darwin, grandfather of Charles, the founder of the theory of Evolution. He was a doctor by profession, but his interests were many and diverse. Gardening, agriculture, chemistry and engineering, poetry and philosophy, even cosmology, were some of his intellectual passions and pursuits. He also had a vague idea about evolution; he increasingly felt that every living organism had descended from one common microscopic organism, a single filament. Darwin would construct the first coherent theory of evolution, of competition and survival. He added to his family crest the motto E conchis omnia “everything from shells”, an action that outraged his clerical friends. Canon Seward sputtered that Darwin was a follower of Epicurus, who claimed that the world was created by accident and not God. Fearing for his practice, Darwin caved in and painted out his blasphemous Latin. (pages 152-153)

After her excellent biography of Hogarth, Jenny Uglow gives us a nice and detailed history of the Lunar men. Their personal adventures and family stories and tragedies are intertwined beautifully with their intellectual passions and scientific pursuits. She describes sufficiently the revolutions of this period that changed the political and social systems, such as the French and the American Revolutions as well as, the revolutionary advances in science, such as these of Linnaeus and Lavoisier.

She has researched her subject widely and indeed, the reference list is detailed and extensive. It is a useful tool for anyone who wants to examine and study more extensively the period and the lives of these extraordinary men. The book is supported by beautiful illustrations and portraits of these passionate men and their inventions. It is a very well written book that demonstrates that even in difficult periods there are determined and passionate people that can lead the way and really change the world. show less

I really enjoyed this book about the men (including Matthew Boulton, James Watt, Erasmus Darwin and Josiah Wedgwood) who formed the Lunar Society in Birmingham in the second half of the 18th century, devoted to learning of all aspects of natural philosophy and for conducting experiments, whilst alongside each of them was pursuing an industrious life and career in ways that made the world a little more modern.

I am fascinated by the history of science and technology, and I found this long and very thoroughly researched book to be a real treat. I hadn’t realised until reading it how closely the leading lights of British science and industry were connected to each other in the late 1700s.

But close they were, and often met monthly in an informal association called the Lunar Society (because they met on nights with a full moon).

Just a list of those who came to those meetings is almost sufficient to show what an immensely talented group they were, and how much they influenced the development of technology and knowledge in that period:

ERASMUS DARWIN, grandfather of Charles Darwin, but also a hugely important figure in the intellectual world of show more the time. A practising medical doctor, who also made many inventions and wrote several long descriptions of the natural world in the form of poetry. His views on evolution weren’t as well grounded as those of his more famous grandson, but were nevertheless very advanced for his time.

JOSIAH WEDGEWOOD, famous for his creation of beautiful English ceramics, but also as I found out from this book, a major force in the establishment of Britain’s network of navigiable canals. His interest in developing canals came from the fact that he was sick of his beautiful pottery being broken when being transported over the terrible unmade roads of the time. On the smooth waters of a canal, his precious cargos would be far more likely to survive the journey.

JAMES WATT of steam engine fame. Watt didn’t by any means invent the first steam engine, but he developed many significant improvements which greatly increased their efficiency and power, as well as making smaller engines possible. Initially only used in mining, Watt’s more efficient engines eventually saw use in the early textile industry in Britain, which made use of his engines to drive the powered looms in factories.

MATTHEW BOULTON, prominent in manufacturing, and for a long time Watt’s business partner. I get the impression that Boulton was the optimistic, outgoing character in the partnership compared with Watt. Without Boulton, Watt may never have achieved any success.

JOSEPH PRIESTLY the chemist, the first person to isolate the gas oxygen (though he clung to the old ‘phlogiston’ theory and so called it ‘de-phlogisticated air’). I also discovered from this book that he was a prominent preacher with radical views. So radical that eventually his house and laboratory were destroyed by a mob and he eventually left England for the Americas.

As well as these five, there were at least seven other men prominent in the Lunar Society over the years. Alas, they were all men, but their wives, sisters and daughters also played their part in the intellectual ferment of the time, and it is interesting that most of these men seemed very willing, even eager, to have their daughters as well as their sons educated.

The closeness of the relationships between these people may be indicated by the fact that Erasmus Darwin’s son married a Wedgwood daughter, and one of their sons was the more familiar Charles Darwin of evolutionary reknown.

A very interesting book, but I do need to say that I found it a difficult read as an ebook, mainly because there are so many characters and so many of their friends, acquaintances and relations mentioned that I did often find it difficult to remember who everyone was. I almost needed a ‘cheat-sheet’ or a ‘dramatis personae’ by my side. It would have been easier to cope with a paper book, I think, in that it’s very easy with a physical book to flip back and forth to scan for forgotten names and passages. So much so that, even though I now own the ebook, I think I’ll go looking for a paper copy to put on my shelf.

Highly recommended if you are at all interested in the history of technology. show less

England in the late 18th Century was surely a crucible for the transformation of our world, and the group that Uglow sketches were leaders. What's wonderful about this book is not so much the depth of investigation into any particular person or topic, but the network of people and topics that gives a sense of how the world was changing.

Watt's improvements to steam engines let them extend the range of their application beyond pumping water to turning shafts to drive mills to grind grain, spin cotton, etc. There was a frenzy to catalog minerals and plants. Chemistry was transformed as different types of gases were discovered and classified.

Uglow covers a wide range of such discoveries and inventions, painting in the political and show more economic landscape that the creative geniuses had to work with.

What I found most remarkable - maybe it's just because it was at the end of the book, so it's freshest in my mind - was the transformation in the political landscape brought about by the French Revolution. Priestey's house was burned down by a reactionary mob and he ended up fleeing to America.

That's a remarkable feature of history. The stream of trouble is never ending but constantly shifting. If you're lucky enough to figure out how to crack a problem or two, it just earns you the opportunity to confront new challenges from whole other directions.

Uglow's book was a fascinating portrait of a time and place that have had a huge impact on history and our world today. show less

Top notch read. Sort of a biography of a group that met monthly and were movers and shakers of science and engineering. Excellent writing covers a fascinating period of English history. I grabbed it because Joseph Priestley was a member and I have driven past his home in PA for years without learning more about him. Terrific book that I highly recommend.