BA Bristol & Bath Branch Science Trail |
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BA Bristol & Bath Branch Science Trail |
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Bath is so much more than the baths, Royal Crescent, and Jane Austen. In earlier
times, before science and engineering turned professional, such invention and
discovery was undertaken by wealthy fashionable people (Gentlemen essentially).
And wealthy fashionable people went to fashionable places such as Bath. So it
is perhaps no great surprise that Bath was a real hotbed of science and engineering
during the 18th and 19th centuries.
We have identified more than 110 sites or buildings which are directly associated with scientific discovery, many of which have had a profound effect upon society (the birth of the subject of geology, discovery of the planet Uranus, invention of the anglepoise lamp etc etc), others were simply curious and interesting (Parry's experiments with medicinal rhubarb!).
The figure of 110 stretches us as far east as Claverton, south to High Littleton, west to Keynsham, and does not include very much of the huge amount of industrial archaeology in the area. We restricted (??!) ourselves to 'pure' science and engineering, and the list of new sites and discoveries grows daily (literally!) - there seems to be no end to the ingenuity of Bath residents!
The Bath Scientific Heritage Trail was launched at BRLSI on 19th January 2001, accompanied by an exhibition of photographs and artefacts. Ten thousand copies of the poster have been printed (click here to see what it looks like). They may still be available - email trail@ba-west.org.uk for more information.
The Bath Scientific Heritage Trail is supported by COPUS and the Institute of Physics.
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