Scientific culture was one of the defining characteristics of the English Enlightenment. The latest discoveries were debated in homes, institutions and towns around the country. But how did the dissemination of scientific knowledge vary with geographical location? What were the differing influences in town and country and from region to region? Enlightenment, Modernity and Science provides the first full length study of the geographies of Georgian scientific culture in England. The author takes the reader on a tour of the principal arenas in which scientific ideas were disseminated, including home, town and countryside, to show how cultures of science and knowledge varied across the Georgian landscape. Taking in key figures such as Erasmus Darwin, Abraham Bennett, and Joseph Priestley along the way, it is a work that sheds important light on the complex geographies of Georgian English scientific culture.

Contents1. Introduction2. Scientific Culture and the Home in Georgian Society3. Uniting Science with the Charm of Landscape: Darwin's Gardens: Place, Horticulture and Botany4. Dissenting Academies and Scientific Culture5. Freemasonry6. Public Botanical Gardens7. Town and County8. Scientific Culture and Politics in Georgian Nottingham9. Natural Philosophy, Enclosure and Improvement10. Placing Electricity and Meteorology: Abraham Bennet (1750-1799)11. Conclusions12. BibliographyIndex