Sponsored by the Office for History of Science and Technology (UC Berkeley)
And the History of Health Sciences Program (UCSF)
John Cloud
NOAA Central Library
Headquarters, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
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Science on the Edge: George Davidson and Science as Reconnaissance, or,
The Coast Survey as a Substrate of the University of California
George Davidson loomed large in the history of 19th century science in the west, and the University of California in particular, and he was the subject of several popular and uncritical biographies. As a result, no one retains a sense of what he (and they) actually did to become so celebrated. The "they" in question was the US Coast Survey, the oldest scientific agency in the US government and the Point of the Beginning for science in California.
This presentation will focus on: (1) Davidson's geodetic foundation, which was one and the same with his establishment of astronomy in California; (2) the Survey's complex cartographic systems of geographic data and their analysis, and the ways these conditioned perceptions of coastal change thresholds over time; and (3) the maturation of 19th century American science by thoroughly internalizing European practitioners and their skills, including Davidson himself.
The Coast Survey built a brilliant scientific edifice on a politically unstable foundation; Davidson's loss to the Survey was the University of California's gain.
4:00PM
Monday, February 26, 2007
140 Barrows Hall
UC Berkeley
Office for History of Science and Technology, 543 Stephens Hall #2350
University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-2350
tel: (510) 642-4581, e-mail: ohst@berkeley.edu
