“Vulgar and Mechanick”: The Scientific Instrument Trade in Ireland, 1650–1921 by J. E. Burnett, A. D. Morrison-Low

Abstract

650 Book Reviews TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE edges: “As editor, I would like to thank Barbara MacDonald and Randy Woerner of AT&T for providing me with system-6300 word­ processing equipment to assemble this volume” (pp. xi—xii). Working together in mutual interaction, the editor and his system-6300 have done a fine job of assembling some interesting articles in the history of war. Daniel R. Headrick Dr. Headrick specializes in the history of technology and international relations. He is the author of The Tools ofEmpire (New York, 1981) and The Tentacles ofProgress (New York, 1988). His latest book, The Invisible Weapon: Telecommunications and International Politics, 1851 —1945, was published by Oxford University Press in 1990. “Vulgar and Mechanick”: The Scientific Instrument Trade in Ireland, 1650—1921. By J. E. Burnett and A. D. Morrison-Low. Dublin and Edinburgh: Royal Dublin Society and National Museums of Scot­ land, 1989. Pp. ix+ 166; illustrations, notes, index. £15.00 + £1.50 handling. Objects occasionally speak for themselves, and historians are occa­ sionally able to hear and interpret what they say. For the most part, however, curators, collectors, and others interested in the history of material culture depend on documentary evidence to understand the objects, the people who made and used them, and the context in which these people worked. Much of this evidence, especially for the makers of objects, is scattered and obscure, and thus it is often difficult to know when an object was made, where it was made, and by whom. “Vulgar and Mechanick” sets the record straight for scientific instruments in Ireland. Scientific here includes the traditional cate­ gories of mathematical, optical, and philosophical instruments. The period extends from the Down Survey, organized by the Cromwellian government seeking land on which to settle its soldiers, until the birth of the Irish Free State. Ireland was never a large and important center of instrument manufacture as was, for instance, London, but, for a “geographically remote and, in some ways, culturally retarded locality,” it supported a surprisingly vigorous instrument trade. By combing printed sources such as city directories and advertisements, skimming newspapers, and making good use of surviving instruments and manuscript business records, J. E. Burnett and A. D. Morrison-Low have found some 300 instrument makers and dealers based in Ireland. They examine their trade both in and of itself and in relation to foreign markets and suppliers. Most of this trade occurred in Dublin, some in Cork, and some in Belfast. Many of these people had strong connec­ tions with England, and most were Protestants. Most of those who may have been Catholic were actually of Italian descent. TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE Book Reviews 651 For historians of technology the most valuable part of this book may be the all-too-brief discussion of the wide variety of traditional and innovative technologies in which scientific instrument makers en­ gaged and to which they contributed. Those interested in technology transfer will appreciate the detailed evidence of peripatetic artisans moving not only from town to town, but from one country to another. The ultimate goal of the authors is to understand the social, economic, and scientific context of the Irish instrument trade. In this light, “Vulgar and Mechanick” “should be regarded as an interim report.” One can only applaud this handsome start and hope that a fuller study will soon be forthcoming. Deborah Jean Warner Ms. Warner, curator of the history of physical sciences at the National Museum of American History, is editor of Rittenhouse, a quarterly journal pertaining to the American scientific instrument enterprise. History Museums in the United States: A Critical Assessment. Edited by Warren Leon and Roy Rosenzweig. Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 1989. Pp. xxvi + 333; illustrations, notes, index. $34.95 (cloth); $14.95 (paper). There has long been an uneasy relationship between academic historians and history museums. While a fair body of literature exists exhorting each to reach out to the other, the fact of the matter is that the public outcomes of “doing” history in a museum are different from the far more formal and more intellectually sustained experi­ ence of a monograph, seminar, or lecture. The history museum must inevitably deal with a lay audience as well as...