Practice of Science in 19th Century Britain & France

The difference in the underlying approach taken to scientific endeavor in Britain and France had important effects not only on the specific means by which the scientists of the two countries attempted to solve scientific problems, but on the types of problems they sought to solve--British scientists gravitating toward problems that were mechanical in character, while French scientists attacked problems that were mathematical in character. More broadly, the difference of approach (which we will argue was rooted in an underlying difference of attitude) effected the kind of science they chose to do, including the fields in which the two countries excelled. Finally, the difference between mechanical and mechanical influenced the overall character of the contributions which the scientists of the two nations made to scientific knowledge.

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and logic are the domains of formal reasoning in its purest form. Likewise, systematization and classification are essentially formal and logical procedures. Thus, Cuvier's biology can be understood as an extension of a mathematically-rooted approach to science into disciplines where specifically mathematical methods did not apply. Very much the same may be said of Darwin's theory of evolution as an extension of a mechanical mode of thought beyond the narrowly mechanical domain. Consider, for example, one of the conceptual foundations of Darwinian evolution, Thomas Malthus' theory of population. This theory posits that the population of a given species is determined by a balance between the force of geometrical population growth and the limiting force of food supply. But to speak of a balance of forces is to evoke a mechanical image. More generally, Darwinian evolution is a dynamic system. It cannot be understood at all by taking a structural snapshot in time of the condition of life. Only by watching the surge and resistance of individuals and species over a period of time can the forces of natural selection be seen at work. Individuals of a species compete within a given ecological niche; different species compete am
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Approximate Word count = 2755
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page)

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