Overview

Samuel Laing (1812-97) was a British railway administrator, politician, and writer on science and religion during the Victorian era. After graduating from St John's College, Cambridge in 1827 he was elected a fellow and remained as a coach before being called to the bar in 1837. After serving as private secretary to the President of the Board of Trade in 1842 he was made secretary to the railway department, retaining the post until 1847 by which time he had become an authority on railways, and in 1848 was appointed chairman and managing director of the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway. He first entered Parliament in 1852, and over the following years served in various roles, including Financial Secretary to the Treasury and finance minister in India, before returning to positions within the railways. In later life he became well known as an author on scientific subjects, showing a positive attitude towards new developments in science and offering an optimistic vision of progressive modernity. He also wrote on religion and in A Modern Zoroastrian (1888) he argued that the ancient religion of Zoroastrianism was more consistent with modern scientific thought than was traditional Christianity. Reprinted from the edition of 1893 which includes several diagrams.

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