reading a time in history
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BEING A EDGEWORTH BY BIRTH TO BE ABLE TO READ ABOUT A DIRECT GRANDFATHER WAS VERY INFORMATIVE AND I THINK JENNY DID A GREAT JOB GETTING INTO THE MINDS OF HER LIST OF LUNAR CLUB MEMBERS AND DOING THE STORY FROM THEIR POINT OF VIEW,,,
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Heavy going
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I can pretty much guarantee that this subject matter will be new to almost any reader. It's interesting to find out what all the characters were all up to and the development of early forms of science, but to be honest I found it heavy going. Unless you're particularly interested in the period or the people then you may find yet another description of a new form of carriage a little galling. Buy it if you're looking at the subject specifically, but not if you're just dipping into it.
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Return to "o" Level history
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Having studied the Industrial Revolution atboth O and A level in the 1980's, I have fascinated to read this book about many of the major players in this important part of British History. Jenny Uglow has succeeded to writing a very readable book that brings such characters to life at Boulton,Watt, Wedgewood, Priestly, etc although the polymath Erasmus Darwin emerges as the most impressive. Anyone who studied this era of history at school will find much to enjoy.
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"O" Level history made human
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Having enjoyed studying the Industrial Revolution at both "o" and "A" level during the 1980's, it was a pleasure to read the human story behind the great names such as Wedgewood, Boulton, Priestly and Watt. Erasmus Darwin emerges as a great polymath and the unlikely hero of the enthralling book by popular historian Jenny Uglow. It would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in this hero as it does more than many more celebrated authors / television presenter's books to explain why this period was so important to the development of Britain. The characters are very much real people and the reader becomes involved in their struggles to overcome corruption and personal trageties. Anyone who studied the same course as myself during the 1980's will want to read this. Recommended unreservedly.
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lunatics they were not?
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A truly fascinating book, describing the 'club' formed by five amatuer experimenters from the Midlands in the 1760's. But not any experimenters: James Watt; Josiah Wedgewood; Joseph Priestley; Matthew Boulton; Erasmus Darwin (grandfather of Charles Darwin. Each of these men is famous and all have had biographies written, but this book about the Lunar Society of Birmingham shows their passions and interests vividly. What a fascinating illustration of early modern history and the power of young and optimistic men to create ideas that actually did change the world around them. The book has much detailed research presented with transparent enthusiasm for the subject. If you bear with the detail, the underlying story is a gem. Oh, and now I know what a 'lunatic' really is!
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