The Lunar Men: The Friends Who Made the Future 1730-1810

Product Information

The Lunar Society Heritage Trail Leaflet provides visitors and local residents with an introduction to the Lunar Society and 18th Century Birmingham by following in its members’ footsteps This has been partly replaced by the very successful James Watt bicentenary 2019 trail due to major works developing the city centre. Schofield, Robert E. (December 1966), "The Lunar Society of Birmingham; A Bicentenary Appraisal", Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London, 21 (2): 144–161, doi: 10.1098/rsnr.1966.0015, ISSN 0035-9149, JSTOR 531065, S2CID 145397408 I'm John Lienhard, at the University of Houston, where we're interested in the way inventive minds work. Erasmus Darwin (1731 – 1802), poet, inventor and botanist. He published a theory of evolution 60 years before his grandson Charles. He developed a steering system that was used by Henry Ford and a mechanical copying machine. A visionary, who predicted the use of steam powered propulsion.

Ben Franklin set the pattern. The American Philosophical Society started out as his study group. Of course, Franklin's life was centered both on revolution and on tying scientific knowledge to practical social change. Today, we drop in on a remarkable gathering of famous men. The University of Houston's College of Engineering presents this series about the machines that make our civilization run, and the people whose ingenuity created them. Joseph Priestley (1733 – 1804), the rebellious cleric and scientist, famous for isolating oxygen, discovering carbon dioxide and carbonated (fizzy) drinks.The Lunar Society was an important club in the Midlands of 18th century England. It was a dinner club, and a learned society. Its members were industrialists and inventors, natural philosophers ( scientists), and other intellectuals. They met regularly in Birmingham and elsewhere from 1765 to 1813. The outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789 caused political strains between members of the society, [43] but it was the Priestley riots of 1791 in Birmingham itself that saw a decisive falling off of the society's spirit and activities. [44] Joseph Priestley himself was driven from the town, leaving England entirely for the United States in 1794, William Withering's house was invaded by rioters and Matthew Boulton and James Watt had to arm their employees to protect the Soho Manufactory. [43] Lunar meetings were continued by the younger generation of the families of earlier Lunar members, including Gregory Watt, Matthew Robinson Boulton, Thomas Wedgwood and James Watt junior, and possibly Samuel Tertius Galton. [45] Regular meetings are recorded into the nineteenth century – eight in 1800, five or six before August 1801 and at least one in 1802, [6] while as late as 1809 Leonard Horner was describing "the remnant of the Lunar Society" as being "very interesting". [6] While individual members continued to produce work of importance, however, the collaborative activity that marked the heyday of the society was noticeably absent. [46] The walk and guide highlights the leading role Birmingham played in the creation of the modern world through the scientific discoveries, shared conversations and informal meetings of a remarkable group of friends.

William Murdoch (1731 – 1802), worked for Boulton and Watt and was the inventor of the gas light. He ended his days living at the court of the Shah of Persia, where he was believed to be an incarnation of Marduk, the ancient god of light. The Lunar Society, in collaboration with specialist solicitors VWV, has drawn together a varied panel to celebrate the way that the car and other forms of transport have shaped Birmingham and the West Midlands, and to explore the changes required to deliver mobility and urban wellbeing in years to come.

The Lunar Society, Birmingham

Schofield, Robert E. (December 1957), "The Industrial Orientation of Science in the Lunar Society of Birmingham", Isis, The University of Chicago Press on behalf of The History of Science Society, 48 (4): 408–415, doi: 10.1086/348607, ISSN 0021-1753, JSTOR 227513, S2CID 144950413 The society also lost several major figures over the period: Richard Lovell Edgeworth ceased regular involvement in the society's activities when he returned to Ireland in 1782, [41] John Whitehurst died in London in 1788, [41] and Thomas Day died the following year. [41] Most significantly, Erasmus Darwin moved to Derby in 1781, but although he complained of being "cut off from the milk of science", he continued to attend Lunar Society meetings at least until 1788. [42] Decline 1789–1813 [ edit ] The Priestley riots of 1791 The Society has recently launched a Midlands Lunar Trail which explores the Midlands connections of the original group. Revolutionary Players – http://home/creative13/domains/lunarsociety.org.uk/public_html.revolutionaryplayers.org.uk/

But, if the Lunar Society was not unique for its aims, it was certainly unique for its membership. It numbered only a dozen or so people, but what a dozen they were! The heart of the Society was Matthew Boulton, the industrialist who built Watt's engines. Cornish chemist and inventor, Sir Humphry Davy, said of Watt, “Those who consider James Watt only as a great practical mechanic form a very erroneous idea of his character; he was equally distinguished as a natural philosopher and a chemist, and his inventions demonstrate his profound knowledge of those sciences, and that peculiar characteristic of genius, the union of them for practical application”. Lunar Society" redirects here. For society on the Moon, see Colonization of the Moon. For the society promoting colonization of the Moon, see Lunar Explorers Society. The meetings of these fellows, with such fertile minds changed an age. The original ‘Lunarmen’, gathered together for lively dinner conversations. They met on nights of the full moon, so that they might have a safe journey home, in the absence of street lighting, from their Birmingham meeting place. By 1768 the core group of nine individuals who would form the nucleus of the Lunar Society had come together with Small at their heart. [16] The group at this time is sometimes referred to as the "Lunar circle", though this is a later description used by historians, [33] and the group themselves used a variety of less specific descriptions, including "Birmingham Philosophers" or simply "fellow-schemers". [34] The Lunar Society 1775–1780 [ edit ] William Withering

The Lunar Society bringing together brilliant minds happened because of a full moon. Those who joined together to become the ‘Lunar Circle’ or ‘Lunar Club’ as it was formerly known in 1775. Porter, Roy (2000), Enlightenment: Britain and the Creation of the Modern World, London: Penguin Books (published 2001), ISBN 0-14-025028-X This was no esoteric, academic, other wordly gathering of people. These fine minds came together to apply their knowledge or the knowledge of others to the newly emerging industrial and manufacturing world. They knew they and Britain were on the cusp of momentous change and they wanted to harness it for the good of mankind. They saw the Industrial Revolution as an opportunity to do a great deal of good for a great number of people. By pulling together all the threads they believed that everyone could benefit from a more enlightened society brought about by the sharing and application of brilliant ideas and processes.