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Research Information

Title Diverging Models of Professional Science: Joseph Henry and Matthew F. Maury in American Meteorology, 1840-1861
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Type Thesis
Length 106 Pages
Area History Of Science
Advisor Denise Phillips
Composed 2004
Summary Joseph Henry of the Smithsonian Institution and Matthew Maury of the United States Navy were two American men of science who investigated meteorology in the mid-nineteenth century. Each employed large-scale observation networks to examine the weather, but approached science with different mindsets and distinct goals. Henry wanted to answer theoretical questions raised in scientific debate, while Maury hoped to improve navigation, a practical goal derived from experience. American science experienced a transition in the decades before the Civil War. Prior to this time, science had been driven primarily by a need to answer practical questions. But as the scientific community developed, men of science increasingly sought credit for their work from others in science and became less attuned to the reception of their work by those on the outside. Henry and Maury’s coexistence in science between 1840 and 1860 reflects the changing state of American science at this time. Keywords: Meteorology, Nineteenth-Century, Joseph Henry, Matthew Maury, Professionalism, Scientific Community

Author Information

Name Clematis Everett
Picture PIC
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College Harvard
Grad Year 2004
Extended Info Not Provided