Pedagogical Progeniture or Tactical Translation? George Fordyce's Additions and Modifications to William Cullen's Philosophical Chemistry—Part II

Abstract

This paper compares the affinity theories and the associated affinity diagrams of William Cullen (1710–1790) and George Fordyce (1736–1802), exploring in particular one episode that took place during the brief hiatus between Fordyce's student years at Edinburgh University and the start of his own pedagogical career in London. This investigation complements that contained in Part I of this paper, which compared the chemistry courses given by Cullen and Fordyce, demonstrating that the knowledge originally imparted to Fordyce by Cullen in his Edinburgh lectures was augmented and translated by Fordyce for his own pedagogical purposes. Part II offers greater insight into the flow of knowledge between Fordyce and Cullen. Their correspondence suggests that the relationship between master and student transmuted into something more complicated after Fordyce left Edinburgh, while the model of knowledge transmission between the two can be seen to be more collaborative than might be expected.