Inaugural Lecture: Dr Simon Naylor : Cornwall’s Scientific Past

This talk provides a history of the foundation of the Royal Institution of Cornwall (RIC) in 1818 and details its early organisational structure, motivations and activities. The talk looks at the RIC’s work in the context of the development of science in nineteenth-century Cornwall in particular and in Britain more generally. The paper draws attention to some of the crucial scientific projects that the RIC was involved in, such as the production of a Cornish fauna, the study of the weather and the survey of the county’s prehistoric remains.

Dr Naylor is a historical geographer at the University of Glasgow. He has previously held academic posts at the Universities of Exeter, Bristol and Oxford. He grew up in west Cornwall. He is the author of Regionalizing Science: Placing Knowledges in Victorian England.

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