Science for All: The Popularization of Science in Early Twentieth-Century Britain

353 Pages·2009·2.2 MB·English

by  Peter J. Bowler

SCIENCE FOR ALL

Science for All
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
The Popularization of Science
in Early Twentieth-Century Britain
PETER J. BOWLER
The University of Chicago Press : Chicago and London
Peter J. Bowler is professor of history of science in the School
of History and Anthropology at Queen’s University, Belfast. He
is the author of several books, including with the University of
Chicago Press: Life’s Splendid Drama: Evolutionary Biology and the
Reconstruction of Life’s Ancestry, 1860–1940 and Reconciling Science
and Religion: The Debate in Early-Twentieth-Century Britain; and
coauthor of Making Modern Science.
The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
© 2009 by The University of Chicago
All rights reserved. Published 2009
Printed in the United States of America
18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 1 2 3 4 5
isbn-13: 978-0-226-06863-3 (cloth)
isbn-10: 0-226-06863-3 (cloth)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bowler, Peter J.
Science for all: the popularization of science in early twentieth-
century Britain / Peter J. Bowler.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn-13: 978-0-226-06863-3 (cloth: alk. paper)
isbn-10: 0-226-06863-3 (cloth: alk. paper) 1. Science news—
Great Britain—History—20th century. 2. Communication in
science—Great Britain—History—20th century. I. Title.
q225.2.g7b69 2009
509.41'0904—dc22
2008055466
a The paper used in this publication meets the minimum re-
quirements of the American National Standard for Information
Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials,
ansi z39.48-1992.
CONTENTS
List of Illustrations vii
Preface ix
A Note about Money xi
1 Introduction: Scientists, Experts, and the Public 1
Part I : Topics and Themes in Popular Science
2 Rival Ideologies of Science 17
3 The Big Picture 33
4 Practical Knowledge for All 53
Part II : Publishers and Their Publications
5 Creating an Audience 75
6 Bestsellers on Big Issues 96
7 Publishers’ Series 114
8 Encyclopedias and Serial Publications 143
9 Popular Science Magazines 161
10 Science for the General Public 185
Part III : The Authors
11 Big Names 217
12 Scientists and Other Experts 241
13 Epilogue: The 1950s and After 264
Appendix: Biographical Register 279
Bibliography 295
Index 327
ILLuSTRATIONS
1. “Can Science Colonise the Tropics?” from Harmsworth Popular
Science, 1911 27
2. Dust jacket from C. M. Beadnell, A Picture Book of Evolution, popular
edition, 1934 47
3. Submarine, from front cover of Archibald Williams, The Wonders of
Modern Invention, 1914 59
4. Advertisement announcing the launch of Hutchinson’s Splendour of
the Heavens, 1923 65
5. Dust jacket of James Jeans, The Mysterious Universe, 1930 102
6. Cover of The Science of Life, no. 6, 1929 106
7. Stalactite cave, from front cover of James C. Philip, The Wonders of
Modern Chemistry, 1913 124
8. Advertising flyer for the Home University Library, 1933 135
9. Front cover of Conquest, April 1923 170
10. Front cover of Armchair Science, April 1929 178
11. Cargo-carrying flying boat on front cover of Newnes’ Practical
Mechanics, September 1942 183
12. Announcement of the dropping of the atomic bomb, front page of
News Chronicle, 7 August 1945 200

PREFACE
As mentioned in the introductory chapter, the project that led to the writing of
this book arose naturally out of an earlier study of science and religion in early
twentieth-century Britain. My work is driven in part by a strong feeling that his-
torians dealing with British science have become fascinated with the Victorian
period to an extent that has led to a significant downplaying of emphasis on the
continuing developments in the decades after 1900. In the case of popular sci-
ence, the early twentieth century saw important changes both in British society
and in the scientific community, changes that helped to shape the somewhat
uncomfortable relationship between them that emerged later in the century and
created the tensions we still live with today. If understanding how the first truly
professionalized generation of scientists addressed the problem of communica-
tion with the public can throw any light on later developments, this study will be
of more than purely historical interest.
Research for this project has led me in some unusual directions. Much of the
literature studied is ephemeral and hence to be found only (if at all) in copyright
libraries and the cheaper kinds of secondhand bookshops. Given that the material
is not easily located by electronic searches (because the authors are obscure, the
titles vague and overdramatized), much work depends on serendipity and advice
from friends and colleagues. Many of the relevant publishers’ archives have not
survived (several firms’ offices were destroyed in bombing raids on London in
1940). Information on matters such as print runs has to be inferred from even
more ephemeral sources such as dust jackets (which most libraries do not keep)
and advertisements, including the flyers sometimes issued with magazines—
which Cambridge University Library, to its great credit, preserves. Even when
the texts of the relevant books and articles are eventually digitalized, one wonders
whether this sort of ephemera will be included.