This is a biography of four men that chronicles their work in the early 19 century at Cambridge. This group is called the Philosophical Breakfast Club. Charles Babbage invented a calculating machine, a primitive form of calculator, John Herschel made early contribution to the invention of photography and also mapped the skies of southern hemisphere, William Whewell did some basic work on crystal structures, and Richard Jones with Whewell worked in the field of economics. This book illustrates their passions, politics, religious beliefs, friendships/rivalries, family tragedies, desire to pursue knowledge, find professional success and gain power. The book also narrates their impact on other scientists who lived at that time including Charles Darwin, Talbot and few others.
A summary of few scientific contributions of these men are as follows: Herschel's objective was to map the stars of southern hemisphere matching his father's earlier charting of northern stars. He collaborated with the members of the club to map Stars, Seas and land. This helped British to bring more worlds' natural resources under their control. The maps also helped sailing in southern hemisphere promoting more explorations.
A number of economists agreed with the writings of the Philosophical Breakfast Club on political economy that favored more fact-based empirical approach bringing insights from behavioral psychology and sociology to make more accurate predictions about people's economic actions. The members of the club gained a broad audience for their inductive methods.
Herschel's first paper on photography was read at the Royal Society on March 14, 1939. In this paper he used the name "photography" for the first time, and also terms like "positive" and "negative" and "by snapshot." In Dec 1840 Royal Society awarded a gold medal for his work in photography.
In Dec 1838, Charles Darwin read Babbage's "Ninth Bridgewater Treatise" and saw Herschel's idea that one species may produce another species, which he calls mystery of mysteries. Darwin repeats this phrase in the opening line of his book, Origin of Species." While sitting in Babbage's drawing room, Darwin thought that God is like a computer programmer who built earlier species to change into new ones over millions of years. After reading Babbage's soirees, and Malthus's "Essay on the Principle of Population," Darwin concluded that species change and he wrote in 1842 and 1844 the first version of the Theory of Evolution without invoking God's intervention. But Babbage did not like Darwin's idea in general and specifically the concept that "Species Variation" occurs randomly. He continued to believe that a divine intervention is essential for the creation of a new species, and went further to suggest that the control of species variations has been built into physical laws that govern the natural world.
Philosopher Immanuel Kant wanted to find middle way between empiricism and rationalism, but he concluded that we can not have knowledge of the physical world per se, but only knowledge of our experience of the world. The physical world itself is dim and unknown to us, which is in agreement with the philosophy of quantum physics. The human mind could never break through the veil of our ideas to understand physical reality. This concept was supported by later German philosophers such as, Fichte, Schelling, and Hegel, who collectively became known as "idealists" because of their emphasis on ideas rather empirical facts. Herschel seemed to agree with Kant but Whewell believed that since God created our mental concepts and the physical world, therefore the concepts of our mind should help us know the physical reality.
Herschel succeeded physicist Isaac Newton as the Master of the Mint. Newton spent his tenure at the mint catching and prosecuting counterfeiters. This position had great influence on the financial policies of the government, and Herschel was looking forward to that, but an act of the government relegated this to a less important position. At that time Herschel was looking forward to replace sterling pound with "100-millet" coin called "Rupee."
In 1833, Herschel published his "Treatise on Astronomy," and in this work he had speculated on the possibility of intelligent life on other planets of the solar system and also on moon and even on the sun. His father William Herschel speculated that "cooler regions" of the sun could support life forms.
The book is not very focused and the author changes topics of discussion too quickly. The personal and family tragedies of some of the members of club are touching, but the book doesn't go into too much detail.
Reference: The Philosophical Breakfast Club: Four Remarkable Friends Who Transformed Science and Changed the World by Laura J Snyder
A summary of few scientific contributions of these men are as follows: Herschel's objective was to map the stars of southern hemisphere matching his father's earlier charting of northern stars. He collaborated with the members of the club to map Stars, Seas and land. This helped British to bring more worlds' natural resources under their control. The maps also helped sailing in southern hemisphere promoting more explorations.
A number of economists agreed with the writings of the Philosophical Breakfast Club on political economy that favored more fact-based empirical approach bringing insights from behavioral psychology and sociology to make more accurate predictions about people's economic actions. The members of the club gained a broad audience for their inductive methods.
Herschel's first paper on photography was read at the Royal Society on March 14, 1939. In this paper he used the name "photography" for the first time, and also terms like "positive" and "negative" and "by snapshot." In Dec 1840 Royal Society awarded a gold medal for his work in photography.
In Dec 1838, Charles Darwin read Babbage's "Ninth Bridgewater Treatise" and saw Herschel's idea that one species may produce another species, which he calls mystery of mysteries. Darwin repeats this phrase in the opening line of his book, Origin of Species." While sitting in Babbage's drawing room, Darwin thought that God is like a computer programmer who built earlier species to change into new ones over millions of years. After reading Babbage's soirees, and Malthus's "Essay on the Principle of Population," Darwin concluded that species change and he wrote in 1842 and 1844 the first version of the Theory of Evolution without invoking God's intervention. But Babbage did not like Darwin's idea in general and specifically the concept that "Species Variation" occurs randomly. He continued to believe that a divine intervention is essential for the creation of a new species, and went further to suggest that the control of species variations has been built into physical laws that govern the natural world.
Philosopher Immanuel Kant wanted to find middle way between empiricism and rationalism, but he concluded that we can not have knowledge of the physical world per se, but only knowledge of our experience of the world. The physical world itself is dim and unknown to us, which is in agreement with the philosophy of quantum physics. The human mind could never break through the veil of our ideas to understand physical reality. This concept was supported by later German philosophers such as, Fichte, Schelling, and Hegel, who collectively became known as "idealists" because of their emphasis on ideas rather empirical facts. Herschel seemed to agree with Kant but Whewell believed that since God created our mental concepts and the physical world, therefore the concepts of our mind should help us know the physical reality.
Herschel succeeded physicist Isaac Newton as the Master of the Mint. Newton spent his tenure at the mint catching and prosecuting counterfeiters. This position had great influence on the financial policies of the government, and Herschel was looking forward to that, but an act of the government relegated this to a less important position. At that time Herschel was looking forward to replace sterling pound with "100-millet" coin called "Rupee."
In 1833, Herschel published his "Treatise on Astronomy," and in this work he had speculated on the possibility of intelligent life on other planets of the solar system and also on moon and even on the sun. His father William Herschel speculated that "cooler regions" of the sun could support life forms.
The book is not very focused and the author changes topics of discussion too quickly. The personal and family tragedies of some of the members of club are touching, but the book doesn't go into too much detail.
Reference: The Philosophical Breakfast Club: Four Remarkable Friends Who Transformed Science and Changed the World by Laura J Snyder
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