Scholarship
Connections between moral philosophy, instrument making and natural philosophy.
Moral philosophy and political economy
Eighteenth-century disciplines did not have the same boundaries as those of today. Smith's Glasgow teaching covered ethics, jurisprudence and social and economic questions. The Theory of Moral Sentiments and The Wealth of Nations examine human society through moral judgement and economic life respectively.
The phrase “invisible hand” should not stand in for the whole of Smith's thought. The subjects, contexts and relationship of the two books deserve separate examination.
Instruments, experiments and engineering
Watt's university work shows how technical improvements can emerge from repairs and experimental observation as well as theory. Problems with the Newcomen model led him to investigate heat loss; his separate condenser moved condensation away from the cylinder.
Why did the separate condenser help?
Early Newcomen engines condensed steam inside the cylinder, cooling it during each cycle. The next admission of steam had to reheat the cylinder walls. A separate condenser moved condensation into another vessel, reducing energy losses from repeated heating.
Glasgow established its Chair of Engineering in 1840. Watt's instrument-making work preceded this chair and should not be equated with enrolment in a modern engineering degree.
Natural philosophy and physics
Nineteenth-century natural philosophy encompassed much of what is now called physics. Thomson taught at Glasgow for 53 years, bringing theoretical research, experiments and engineering applications into close contact.
The kelvin scale
The kelvin is the SI unit of thermodynamic temperature. A temperature difference of 1 K has the same magnitude as 1 °C; the scales are related by T/K = t/°C + 273.15. Zero kelvin corresponds to absolute zero.
BIPM — SI base units ↗His research covered thermodynamics, electricity and communications. The absolute temperature scale and his transatlantic telegraph work represent different contributions to fundamental theory and practical engineering.
Collections and academic history
University history survives in instruments, models, books and archives as well as written accounts. The Hunterian's scientific collections help explain how earlier research was carried out.
Objects can be considered alongside biographies, while distinguishing original artefacts from later models and visual reconstructions.