Dr Ben MARSDEN
Crombie Annexe,
Meston Walk,
King's College,
University of Aberdeen,
Old Aberdeen,
AB24 3FX
Room: Crombie Annexe 204
Senior Lecturer
Personal Details
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Biography
BA (MA) Hons in Mathematics, University of Cambridge (1987); Certificate of Advanced Study in Mathematics (Mathematical Tripos Part III), University of Cambridge (1988); PhD in History, Philosophy and Social Relations of Science, University of Kent at Canterbury (1992); British Academy Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Leeds (1993-1995); Royal Society - British Academy Postdoctoral Research Fellow in History of Science, University of Kent at Canterbury (1995-1999) and University of Aberdeen (1999-2000); Lecturer in Cultural History, University of Aberdeen (2000-2009); Senior Fellow, Dibner Institute for the History of Science and Technology, MIT/Harvard (2005-2006); Senior Lecturer in History of Science and Technology (2009-present); Deputy Head of School of Divinity, History and Philosophy (2009-2011); Director, Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine (2009-2010); Director, Centre for the History and Philosophy of Science, Technology and Medicine (2010-2011, 2012-present).
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Research Interests
Science and technology in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century culture, especially the cultural history of engineering and technology in Britain; the humanitarian movement and veterinary professionalization; the historical relationship between science and music; engineers as authors and readers. Selected publications have addressed: the history of engineering education (esp. of W. J. Macquorn Rankine), in the British Journal for the History of Science (1992) and in Crosbie Smith and Jon Agar (eds.), Making space for science (Macmillan, 1998); technological success and failure in History of Science (1998); the history of energy and the relationship between science and music in Hessenbruch (ed.), Readers' guide to the history of science (Fitzroy Dearborn, 2000); and the reading practices of I. K. Brunel in Marsden, O'Connor and Hutchison (eds.), Uncommon contexts (Pickering & Chatto, forthcoming 2013). His account of James Watt and the separate condenser appeared as Watt's perfect engine: steam and the age of invention (Icon, 2002; Columbia, 2004). He has also contributed extensively to the new Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford, 2004). With Crosbie Smith he has written Engineering empires: a cultural history of technology in nineteenth-century Britain (Macmillan, 2005 (hbk), 2006 (pbk)). The first part of an interdisciplinary study of the relationship between the mechanical analysis, architectural history and comparative anatomy of Cambridge professor Robert Willis was published in the British Journal for the History of Science (2004). He revisited the history of heat engines, especially those using air as a working substance, in Transactions of the Newcomen Society (2006). He contributed a new entry on meteorologist John Aitken to the new edition of the Dictionary of Scientific Biography (2007); and his study of attitudes towards the engineering science of naval architecture at the British Association for the Advancement of Science appeared in a thematic volume of the Journal for European Administrative History (2008). A further paper on John Aitken's 'outdoor physics' has appeared in a Norwegian journal of cultural history (2009); and a study of perceptions of French technological culture amongst British artisans in the early ninteenth century has appeared in a volume edited by Liliane Hilaire-Perez (2010). He is currently completing the first major biography of Macquorn Rankine for Ashgate (projected 2013/14) and a preliminary study, 'Ranking Rankine', should appear in History of Science (2013/14). With Peter McCaffery he is editing the Routledge Reader in Cultural History (Routledge, forthcoming 2013/14).
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Current Research
He is currently: completing the first book-length study of W. J. M. Rankine and the origins of academic engineering science in nineteenth-century Britain (for Ashgate); preparing an extended study of the Falkirk meteorologist John Aitken; and re-visiting I. K. Brunel's interactions with cultures of reading and writing for Marsden, O'Connor and Hutchison (eds.), Uncommon contexts (Pickering & Chatto, forthcoming 2013), a volume on literature and science.
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Collaborations
He has worked closely with Crosbie Smith on the AHRC-funded project on the cultural history of the ocean-going steamer in nineteenth-century Britain; he maintains close links with staff at the National Museum of Scotland (Science and Technology Division), including Klaus Staubermann; is workshop on literary engineering was co-organised with staff at the University of Aarhus (Denmark), notably Casper Andersen.
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Research Grants
He received a major grant from the Dibner Institute of the History of Science and Technology, MIT/Harvard (2005-2006) as Senior Fellow there.
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Teaching Responsibilities
Contributions to various Sixth Century Courses, including 'Fearsome Engines' and 'Science and the Media'
HI1022: Europe in the 20th Century (contribution)
HS2003: History and Philosophy of Science I
HS2503: History and Philosophy of Science II
CU3012/CU3512: Science & Religion
HI2012: Birth of Modernity (contributor)
CU4026: Cultures of Victorian Science and Technology
EL40BR: Literature and Science: From Frankenstein to Einstein
MLitt in Visual Culture (contributor)
MLitt in History and Philosophy of Science (co-ordinator)
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External Responsibilities
Include, or have included: Council, British Society for the History of Science (2000-2003); Book Reviews Editor and Editorial Board Member, British Journal for the History of Science (2000-2005); Advisory Editor, Isis (2009-2011)
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Admin Responsibilities
Founding Director of the CASS Centre for the History and Philosophy of Science, Technology and Medicine
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Media Work
Contributor to: 'Engineering an Empire: Britain' (History Channel, 2006); 'James Watt' (Arte, c. 2008); 'The Genius of Invention: Power' (BBC 2, January 2013)
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Publications
Contributions to Journals
Articles
- Marsden, B. (2010). 'Counting dust and domesticating clouds: Inside the "outdoor physics" of John Aitken (1839-1919)'. Tidskrift for Kulturforskning, vol 9, no. 1, pp. 45-56.
- Marsden, B. (2008). 'The administration of the "engineering science" of naval architecture at the British Association for the Advancement of Science, 1831-1872'. Jahrbuch für Europäische Verwaltungsgeschichte, vol 20, pp. 67-94.
- Marsden, B. (2006). 'Superseding Steam: the Napier and Rankine Hot-air Engine'. Transactions of the Newcomen Society, vol 76, no. 1, pp. 1-22.
[Online] DOI: 10.1179/175035206X105186 - Marsden, B. (2004). ''The progeny of these two "Fellows''': Robert Willis, William Whewell and the sciences of mechanism, mechanics and machinery in early Victorian Britain'. British Journal for the History of Science, vol 37, no. 4, pp. 401-434.
[Online] DOI: 10.1017/S0007087404006144 - Marsden, B. (1998). 'Blowing hot and cold: Reports and retorts on the status of the air-engine as success of failure, 1830-1855'. History of Science, vol 36, pp. 373-420.
- Marsden, B. (1992). 'Engineering science in Glasgow: Economy, efficiency and measurement as prime movers in the differentiation of an academic discipline'. British Journal for the History of Science, vol 25, pp. 319-46.
Reviews of Books, Films and Articles
- Marsden, B. (2012). 'David Philip Miller, James Watt, Chemist: Understanding the Origins of the Steam Age (London: Pickering & Chatto, 2009)'. British Journal for the History of Science, vol 45, no. 2, pp. 298-300.
[Online] DOI: 10.1017/S0007087412000568 - Marsden, B. (2009). 'Daniel Cohen, Globalization and Its Enemies (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2007)'. The European Legacy: Towards New Paradigms, vol 14, no. 6, pp. 748-749.
[Online] DOI: 10.1080/10848770903259276 - Marsden, B. (2009). 'Robert Fox and Graeme Gooday (eds.), Physics in Oxford 1839-1939. Laboratories, Learning, and College Life (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005)'. Ambix, vol 56, no. 2, pp. 194-195.
[Online] DOI: 10.1179/174582309X441426 - Marsden, B. (2007). 'Geoffrey Cantor, Quakers, Jews and Science. Religious Responses to Modernity and the Sciences in Britain (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005)'. History, vol 92, pp. 122-124.
- Marsden, B. (2007). 'Michael A. Taylor, Hugh Miller. Stonemason, Geologist, Writer (Edinburgh: NMS Enterprises Limited – Publishing, National Museums Scotland, 2007)'. Northern Scotland, vol 27, pp. 218-220.
- Marsden, B. (2006). 'Deconstructing discovery: David Philip Miller, Discovering Water: James Watt, Henry Cavendish and the Nineteenth-Century ‘Water Controversy’. Science, Technology and Culture, 1700-1945 (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2004)'. Notes & Records of the Royal Society of London, vol 60, no. 1, pp. 105-106.
[Online] DOI: 10.1098/rsnr.2005.0122 - Marsden, B. (2006). 'Harro Maas, William Stanley Jevons and the Making of Modern Economics. Historical Perspectives on Modern Economics (Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005)'. Isis, vol 97, pp. 770-772.
[Online] DOI: 10.1086/512902 - Marsden, B. (2006). 'Hasok Chang, Inventing Temperature: Measurement and Scientific Progress. Oxford Studies in Philosophy of Science (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004)'. Historical Studies in the Physical and Biological Sciences, vol 37, no. 1, pp. 177-178.
- Marsden, B. (2005). 'Bernard P. Cronin, Technology, Industrial Conflict and the Development of Technical Education in 19th-Century England (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2001)'. Isis, vol 96, no. 2, pp. 288-289.
- Marsden, B. (2004). 'R. Angus Buchanan, The life and times of Isambard Kingdom Brunel (London and New York: Hambledon and London, 2002)'. Journal of Transport History, vol 25, pp. 112-114.
- Marsden, B. (2004). 'Donald Cardwell, the development of science and technology in nineteenth-century Britain: the importance of Manchester: edited by Richard L. Hills. Variorum Collected Studies Series, CS765 (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2003)'. Notes & Records of the Royal Society of London, vol 58, no. 3, pp. 318-320.
[Online] DOI: 10.1098/rsnr.2004.0059 - Marsden, B. (2003). 'John Cantrell and Gillian Cookson (eds.), Henry Maudslay and the Pioneers of the Machine Age (Stroud: Tempus, 2002)'. Economic History Review, vol 56, no. 3, pp. 570-571.
[Online] DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-0289.2003.00262.x - Marsden, B. (2002). 'Gillian Cookson and Colin A. Hempstead, A Victorian Scientist and Engineer: Fleeming Jenkin and the Birth of Electrical Engineering (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2000)'. Ambix, vol 49.
- Marsden, B. (2001). 'Harry Collins and Trevor Pinch, The Golem at Large: What You Should Know about Technology (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998)'. Annals of Science, vol 58, pp. 440-441.
- Marsden, B. (2000). 'Dale H. Porter, The Life and Times of Sir Goldsworthy Gurney, Gentleman Scientist and Inventor 1793-1875 (Bethlehem: Lehigh University Press, 1998)'. Ambix, vol 47, pp. 65-66.
- Marsden, B. (1999). 'F. A. J. L. James (ed.), Semaphore to Short Waves (London: Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufacture and Commerce, 1998)'. Endeavour, vol 23, pp. 41-42.
- Marsden, B. (1996). 'Robert Fox and Anna Guagnini (eds.), Education, Technology and Industrial Performance in Europe, 1850-1939 (Cambridge: Editions de la Maison des Sciences de l’Homme and Cambridge University Press, 1993)'. British Journal for the History of Science, vol 29, pp. 110-112.
- Marsden, B. (1996). 'Robert A. Rosenberg, Paul B. Israel, Keith A. Nier, and Martha J. King (eds.), The Papers of Thomas A. Edison. Volume 3: Menlo Park: The Early Years, April 1876-December 1877 (Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1994)'. British Journal for the History of Science, vol 29, pp. 247-249.
- Marsden, B. (1995). 'Harry Collins and Trevor Pinch, The Golem: What Everyone Should Know About Science (Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993)'. Isis, vol 86, pp. 357-358.
- Marsden, B. (1995). 'F. A. J. L. James (ed.), The Correspondence of Michael Faraday: Volume 2, 1832-1840 (London: Institution of Electrical Engineers, 1993)'. Annals of Science, vol 52, pp. 619-621.
- Marsden, B. (1995). 'Mikael Hård, Machines are Frozen Spirit. The Scientification of Refrigeration and Brewing in the 19th Century - A Weberian Interpretation (Frankfurt: Campus Verlag and Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1994)'. Science and Public Policy, vol 22, pp. 67-69.
- Marsden, B. (1994). 'Lillian Hoddeson, Ernest Braun, Jürgen Teichmann, and Spencer Weart (eds.), Out of the Crystal Maze: Chapters from the History of Solid-State Physics (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1992)'. Times Higher Education Supplement, pp. 26.
- Marsden, B. (1994). 'A.N. Kolmogorov and A. P. Yushkevich (eds.), Mathematics of the 19th Century: Mathematical Logic, Algebra, Number Theory, Probability Theory (Basel, Boston and Berlin: Birkhauser, 1992)'. British Journal for the History of Science, vol 27, pp. 236-237.
- Marsden, B. (1994). 'B. C. Blake-Coleman, Copper Wire and Electrical Conductors: The Shaping of a Technology (Chur, Reading, Paris, Philadelphia, Tokyo and Melbourne: Harwood Academic Publishers, 1992)'. Science and Public Policy, vol 21, pp. 198-200.
- Marsden, B. (1993). 'Daniel M. Siegel, Innovation in Maxwell’s Electromagnetic Theory: Molecular Vortices, Displacement Current, and Light (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991)'. British Journal for the History of Science, pp. 116-117.
- Marsden, B. (1993). 'Robert A. Rosenberg, Paul B. Israel, Keith A. Nier, and Melodie Andrews (eds.), The Papers of Thomas A. Edison. Volume 2: From Workshop to Laboratory, June 1873-March 1876 (Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992)'. British Journal for the History of Science, vol 26, pp. 118-119.
- Marsden, B. (1993). 'Paul Tunbridge, Lord Kelvin: His Influence on Electrical Measurements and Units (London: Peter Peregrinus Ltd. for Institution of Electrical Engineers, 1992)'. British Journal for the History of Science, vol 26, pp. 371-372.
- Marsden, B. (1992). 'Graham Hollister-Short and Frank A.J.L. James (eds.), History of Technology, Thirteenth Annual Volume (London and New York: Mansell, 1991)'. British Journal for the History of Science, vol 25, pp. 475-476.
Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings
Chapters
- Marsden, B. (in press). 'Introduction'. in: Uncommon Contexts. Pickering & Chatto, London.
- Marsden, B. (2010). 'Carriages, coffee-cups and dynamometers: Representing French technical cultures in the London Mechanics’ Magazine, 1823-1848'. P Bret, I Gouzévitch & L Pérez (eds), in: Les techniques et la technologie entre la France et la Grande-Bretagne, XVIIe-XIXe siècles: Documents pour l'histoire des techniques. vol. 19, Collection Meridiennes, CNRS / Universite Toulouse-le-Mirail, pp. 243-254.
- Marsden, B. (2007). 'John Aitken'. N Koertge (ed.), in: New Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Charles Scribner's Sons, Detroit, MI, USA.
- Marsden, B. (1998). ''A most important trespass': Lewis Gordon and the Glasgow chair of civil engineering and mechanics, 1840-1855'. C Smith & J Agar (eds), in: Making Space for Science: Territorial Themes in the Shaping of Knowledge. Macmillan Publishers, Basingstoke, pp. 87-117.
Entries for Encyclopedias and Dictionaries
- Marsden, B. (2004). 'W. J. M. Rankine'. B Lightman (ed.), in: Dictionary of Nineteenth-Century British Scientists. Thoemmes Continuum, London, United Kingdom.
- Marsden, B. (2004). 'William Youatt'. B Lightman (ed.), in: Dictionary of Nineteenth-Century British Scientists. Thoemmes Continuum, London, United Kingdom.
- Marsden, B. (2004). 'Gompertz, Lewis (1784?-1861)'. HCG Matthew & B Harrison (eds), in: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press, Oxford, United Kingdom.
[Online] DOI: 10.1093/ref:odnb/10934 - Marsden, B. (2004). 'Gordon, Lewis Dunbar Brodie (1815-1876)'. HCG Matthew & B Harrison (eds), in: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press, Oxford, United Kingdom.
[Online] DOI: 10.1093/ref:odnb/55414 - Marsden, B. (2004). 'Gregory, Olinthus Gilbert (1774-1841)'. HCG Matthew & B Harrison (eds), in: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press, Oxford, United Kingdom.
[Online] DOI: 10.1093/ref:odnb/11469 - Marsden, B. (2004). 'Hann, James (1799-1856)'. HCG Matthew & B Harrison (eds), in: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press, Oxford, United Kingdom.
[Online] DOI: 10.1093/ref:odnb/12206 - Marsden, B. (2004). 'Rankine, William John Macquorn (1820-1872)'. HCG Matthew & B Harrison (eds), in: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press, Oxford, United Kingdom.
[Online] DOI: 10.1093/ref:odnb/23133 - Marsden, B. (2004). 'Robison, Sir John (1778-1843)'. HCG Matthew & B Harrison (eds), in: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press, Oxford, United Kingdom.
[Online] DOI: 10.1093/ref:odnb/23895 - Marsden, B. (2004). 'Stirling, Robert (1790-1878)'. HCG Matthew & B Harrison (eds), in: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press, Oxford, United Kingdom.
[Online] DOI: 10.1093/ref:odnb/26534 - Marsden, B. (2004). 'Willis, Robert (1800-1875)'. HCG Matthew & B Harrison (eds), in: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press, Oxford, United Kingdom.
[Online] DOI: 10.1093/ref:odnb/29584 - Marsden, B. (2003). 'Engineer'. JL Heilbron, J Bartholomew, JA Bennett, FL Holmes, R Laudan & G Pancaldi (eds), in: Oxford Companion to the History of Modern Science. Oxford University Press, New York, pp. 257-258.
- Marsden, B. (2003). 'Engineering science'. JL Heilbron, J Bartholomew, JA Bennett, FL Holmes, R Laudan & G Pancaldi (eds), in: Oxford Companion to the History of Modern Science. Oxford University Press, New York, pp. 258-261.
- Marsden, B. (2001). 'Brunel, Isambard Kingdom (1806-1859)'. J Powell (ed.), in: A Biographical Dictionary of Literary Influences: The Nineteenth Century, 1800-1914. Greenwood Press (Westport, Conn.), Westport and London, pp. 59-61.
- Marsden, B. (2000). 'Energy'. A Hessenbruch (ed.), in: Reader's Guide to the History of Science. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, London and Chicago, pp. 210-214.
- Marsden, B. (2000). 'Music and science: antiquity to 1700'. A Hessenbruch (ed.), in: Reader's Guide to the History of Science. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, London and Chicago, pp. 491-494.
- Marsden, B. (2000). 'Music and science: since 1700'. A Hessenbruch (ed.), in: Reader's Guide to the History of Science. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, London and Chicago, pp. 494-97.
- Marsden, B. (1994). 'Forty-five biographical entries covering heat, thermodynamics, gases and acoustics'. in: Larousse Dictionary of Scientists. Larousse Kingfisher Chambers, London and Edinburgh.
Books and Reports
Books
- Marsden, B., Hutchison, H. & O'Connor, RJ. (eds) (in press). 'Uncommon Contexts: Encounters between Science and Literature 1800-1914'. Pickering & Chatto, London.
- Marsden, B. & Smith, C. (2005). 'Engineering Empires: A Cultural History of Technology in Nineteenth-Century Britain'. Palgrave Macmillan.
- Marsden, B. (2002). 'Watt's Perfect Engine: Steam and the Age of Invention'. Icon, Cambridge.
Contributions to Specialist Publications
Articles
- Marsden, B. (in press). 'Anti-metrication in metre'. p. 8-9, Viewpoint: Magazine of the British Socierty for the History of Science, British Society for the History of Science.
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