Incendiary science: fireworks at the Royal Society
Presenter: Simon Werrett
Published: November 2013
Age: 14-19 and upwards
Views: 1022 views
Tags: Fireworks;combustion;gunpowder;rockets;pyrotechnics
Type: Lectures
Source/institution: Royal Society
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In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, fireworks offered some intriguing possibilities for scientific research among the experimental philosophers of the Royal Society. What was the nature of fire? How did combustion work? Why did gunpowder explode? What made rockets ascend, how high could they go, and how far away was the flame of a rocket visible? Experimenters used fireworks to explore all of these questions, drawing on the skills and performances of LondonÕs pyrotechnists to help them in their inquiries. This talk will explore the place of fireworks in early experimental science, and show how experimenters had to steer a careful path when using fireworks. Simon Werrett is Lecturer in History and Philosophy of Science, University College London.
