Colonial
America was a
place that demanded much of settlers. While many appreciated the value of book
learning, many came to America because of their strong opinions about a particular book,
their new home required them to focus on practical knowledge for developing
land, repairing hard-to-get goods and getting the most out of one’s one labor.
In The Society for Useful Knowledge, Jonathan
Lyons explores this emphasis on utility and its influence on colonial science
and the revolutionary generation.
Ben
Franklin is the most significant figure discussed by Lyon. He developed an
appreciation early in life for the value of skilled labor, he was a printer
himself, and he maintained this even as he became America’s most famous
scientist and the new nation’s representative in Europe.
Franklin’s influence in the American scientific community was huge even though
he spent years in Europe; his connections to European scientists were part of
the reason for his influence at home.
Franklin and his compatriots saw a great value in encouraging and
disseminating useful information in science and engineering,
especially if it might increase the productivity of American agriculture
and manufacturing.
Franklin founded one of the earliest scientific societies in the colonies and
it eventually had many imitators. He also supported the establishment of what
eventually became the University of Pennsylvania, though he broke with the
other organizers when his emphasis on utility conflicted with their desire to
provide an education focused on classical languages in the European mold.
Though Franklin was not trying to establish institutions that would
lead to the revolution, he and many who worked with him did it anyway. Franklin
and his Quaker neighbors preferred education in useful knowledge and trades.
Many colonial scientists were self-taught and learned on their farms and
workshops. They saw little value in the classical education popular in Europe
that distinguished the aristocracy and upper class from others, but did little
in their minds to suit a person for a role of value in the community. Americans
needed to get stuff done and they didn’t care much about a person’s pedigree. This
opened up opportunities for people of low social status to grow in wealth and
influence. (Even in Europe, amateur scientists from many classes were common
and it especially leveled the social ground around England’s
coffeehouses.)
Franklin’s circle of mechanics and part-time scientists influenced the
generation that followed them. Franklin’s personal reputation allowed him to be
a leader in that generation who became the founders of the United States. The
emphasis on practicality and experience, with the accompanying devaluing of
ancient authorities in dead languages, influenced American political
thought as well as its science, technology and education. The connections he
made as a postmaster and scientific communicator also formed a model for the
political influencers of his time.
If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in
Lyons, Jonathan. The Society for
Useful Knowledge: How Benjamin Franklin and His Friends Brought the
Enlightenment to America. New York: Bloomsbury, 2013.
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