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

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Jones, Peter M. (2008), Industrial Enlightenment: Science, technology and culture in Birmingham and the West Midlands, 1760–1820, Manchester: Manchester University Press, ISBN 978-0-7190-7770-8 The leading figure behind the establishment of the society as a more organised body during this early period seems to have been Matthew Boulton: his home at Soho House in Handsworth was the principal venue for meetings, and in 1776 he is recorded as planning "to make many Motions to the Members respecting new Laws, and regulations, such as will tend to prevent the decline of a society which I hope will be lasting." [36] This reliance on Boulton was also to prove a weakness, however, as the period coincided with the peak of his work building up his steam engine business and he was frequently absent. Although the 1770s was one of the society's richest eras in terms of its collaborative achievements, the society's meetings declined from regular occurrences in 1775 to infrequent ones by the end of the decade. [37] Heyday of the Society 1780–1789 [ edit ] Joseph Priestley, c. 1783 Boulton, Darwin and Whitehurst were in turn introduced by Michell to Benjamin Franklin when he travelled to Birmingham in July 1758 "to improve and increase Acquaintance among Persons of Influence", [27] and Franklin returned in 1760 to conduct experiments with Boulton on electricity and sound. [28] Although Michell seems to have withdrawn slightly from the group when he moved to Thornhill (near Dewsbury) in 1767, [11] Franklin was to remain a common link among many of the early members. [5] The Lunar Circle 1765–1775 [ edit ] William Small

Josiah Wedgwood (1730 – 93), the father of English pottery, who was also Charles Darwin’s other grandfather. As an industrialist, he was dedicated to improving everyday life and brought affordable tableware to the masses. The Society actively works with other like-minded organisations to provide a dynamic programme of activities for its membership to influence change through focusing and informing debate, linking social, economic, scientific and cultural thinking, and catalysing action on issues critical to the common good.

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. Despite this uncertainty, fourteen individuals have been identified as having verifiably attended Lunar Society meetings regularly over a long period during its most productive eras: these are Matthew Boulton, Erasmus Darwin, Thomas Day, Richard Lovell Edgeworth, Samuel Galton, Jr., Robert Augustus Johnson, James Keir, Joseph Priestley, William Small, Jonathan Stokes, James Watt, Josiah Wedgwood, John Whitehurst and William Withering. [8] Benjamin Franklin

In the latter part of the 20th century, the University of Birmingham Lunar Society met every Thursday to debate and discuss all manner of topics in the Guild bar. In 2011, steps were undertaken to reform the discussion society as an alternative to the more regulated debate options available at the university. This was agreed by the University's Guild of Students in autumn 2012. The society now hosts symposiums every two weeks. Any member has always been welcome to suggest a topic for discussion. These meetings occur in a variety of environments from University rooms to local bars. In 2013 the society attempted to change the name of one of the rooms in the Guild of Students to 'The Lunar Room' in honour of the original Birmingham Lunar Society. Like the Oxford Union, the society has always traditionally put a huge emphasis on freedom of speech. The society has similar aims to The Speculative Society of Edinburgh University. [51] [ non-primary source needed] In 2019, the society was rebranded as the Devil's Advocate Society, and retained the goals of the Lunar Society whilst changing much of its branding.Before the French Revolution, intellectuals (both men and women) gathered in salons to talk about scientific and social issues. Now the English Industrial Revolution was about to become the ultimate fusion of science, social change, and revolution. And the Lunar Society formed a primary focus for such change. 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”. Join us on Wednesday, November 29, 2023 at 19:00 GMT to discuss the future shape of transport in the West Midlands. 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.

The heart of the Society was Matthew Boulton -- the industrialist who built Watt's engines. Look at some of the other members: Erasmus Darwin -- famous physician and writer and Charles Darwin's grandfather. Joseph Priestly -- the rebellious cleric and scientist, famous for isolating oxygen. Josiah Wedgwood: he was known for his fine tableware, but he was also dedicated to the improvement of everyday life. He made enormous contributions to the production of common tableware. By the way, Wedgwood was Charles Darwin's other grandfather. King-Hele, Desmond George (31 July 1992). "Shelley and science". Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London. 46 (2): 257. doi: 10.1098/rsnr.1992.0025. ISSN 0035-9149. PMID 11623027. S2CID 43302716– via The Royal Society Publishing. 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.

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BBC Radio 4 In our Time – Melvyn Bragg – http://home/creative13/domains/lunarsociety.org.uk/public_html.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00548z8 Porter, Roy (2000), Enlightenment: Britain and the Creation of the Modern World, London: Penguin Books (published 2001), ISBN 0-14-025028-X But who were these men that would meet every month to discuss how science and technology could be made to serve society for the good of all? The pioneers that together would bring about the ultimate fusion of science and social change that would fuel the fires and ignite the Industrial Revolution: 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

Revolutionaries have always gathered in small groups, and this was a revolutionary group. The revolutions of the late eighteenth century took many forms, but they were all fomented in study groups. And these groups invariably got around to a common question: How could science and technology be made to serve society? In late 1780 the nature of the society was to change again with the move to Birmingham of Joseph Priestley. Priestley had been closely associated with the group's activities for over a decade and was a strong advocate of the benefits of scientific societies. Shortly after his arrival Lunar meetings moved from Sunday afternoons to Mondays to accommodate Priestley's duties as a clergyman, while the society's dependence on Matthew Boulton was lessened by holding meetings at other members' houses in addition to Soho House. The result was to be the society's most productive era. [38]However, the project will go beyond these early, often negative, colonial relationships and show how a more positive history has been created by the contribution of people from all over the Commonwealth to the development of Birmingham as modern multi-cultural city. Jenny Uglow’s The Lunar Men is a vivid and swarming group portrait that brings to life the friendships, political passions, love affairs, and love of knowledge (and power) that drove these extraordinary men. It echoes the thud of pistons and the wheeze and snort of engines, and brings to life the tradesmen, artisans, and tycoons who shaped and fired the modern age. The nature of the group was to change significantly with the move to Birmingham in 1765 of the Scottish physician William Small, who had been Professor of Natural Philosophy at The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. There he had taught and been a major influence over Thomas Jefferson, and had formed the focus of a local group of intellectuals. His arrival with a letter of introduction to Matthew Boulton from Benjamin Franklin was to have a galvanising effect on the existing circle, which began to explicitly identify itself as a group and actively started to attract new members. [29] The image above is a letter from James Watt to Dr Darwin in 1781 informing Darwin of the proposed discussion topics for their next gathering. These were obviously men so wrapped up in their experimental exploits that even their letters betray their complete fascination with what they studied.