Overview

This book examines the British Admiralty’s engagement with science and technological innovation in the nineteenth century. It is a book about people, and gross misunderstanding, about the dreams and disappointments of scientific workers and inventors in relation to the administrators who adjudicated their requests for support, and about the power of paper to escalate arguments, reduce opinions, and frustrate hopes. From instructions for naval surveying to debates about rewards to civilians for inventions, Paper Navigators puts a wide range of primary sources in the context of public debates and explores the British Admiralty’s engagement with, decision-making around, and management of questions of value, support, and funding with citizen inventors, the broader public, and their own employees. Concentrating on the Admiralty’s private, internal correspondence to explore these themes, it offers a fresh perspective on the Victorian Navy's history of innovation and exploration and is a novel addition to literature on the history of science in the nineteenth century.

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9783031067488

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Reviews

“Behrisch concludes her book by arguing that this ‘gross miscommunication’ … is the story at the heart of it. … her conclusions are backed by a convincing amount research and an incorporation of the latest scholarship on … popular attitudes in Britain towards science more generally. … In its way, it is as inspiring an account as those of the more visible naval heroes of the era, as well as one of greater relevance to us today.” (Mark Klobas, The Northern Mariner, Le marin du nord, Vol. 33 (1), 2023) “Discovery, Innovation, and the Victorian Admiralty reminds us that the encouragement and reception of technology—and of science—is rarely just about enthusiasm or reluctance. This book will be of use to anyone interested in the reception of invention and discovery, especially in govern­mental or bureaucratic settings.” (Penelope K. Hardy, Technology and Culture, Vol. 64 (3), July, 2023)

“Discovery, Innovation, and the Victorian Admiralty reminds us that the encouragement and reception of technology—and of science—is rarely just about enthusiasm or reluctance. This book will be of use to anyone interested in the reception of invention and discovery, especially in govern­mental or bureaucratic settings.” (Penelope K. Hardy, Technology and Culture, Vol. 64 (3), July, 2023)

Author Information

Erika Behrisch is Professor in the Department of English, Culture, and Communication at the Royal Military College of Canada.

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