Josiah Wedgwood (1730–95) — Scientist

Abstract

A PAPER published by Robert Schofield in 1959 contains the statement: 'In recent years scholarly attack, aimed primarily at the general picture of the industrial revolution, has directly or indirectly lessened the reputation of Wedgwood . . .and his right to the title of scientist has been denied.' 1 Schofield proceeded in that paper to argue for the re-establishment of Wedgwood's reputation as an industrial chemist, and in his subsequent monograph on the Lunar Society of Birmingham we find him referring to Wedgwood as 'a scientific potter'. 1 My purpose is to review Wedgwood's work in a field that we now regard as a branch of physics, namely pyrometry or the measurement of high temperatures.In doing so I want to concentrate on one aspect of that work to which Neil McKendrick has drawn attention in an essay, published just over a year ago, dealing with the role of science in the industrial revolution.3After stating that 'Wedgwood's pyrometer was certainly industrially useful', McKendrick went on to comment that Wedgwood's 'empirical approach to the problem and his failure to calibrate its scale with that of Fahrenheit raises doubts over the level of scientific achievement involved in its invention'.4A detailed examination that I have made of Wedgwood's notebooks and other manuscript material seeking information relating to his pyrometric studies has left me in no doubt that his method of investigation can justly be regarded as scientific, using the term in its modern connotation.No one was probably more aware of the need for some form of pyrometer for use in pottery kilns than Wedgwood himself, particularly when he was conducting experiments aimed at improving the quality of his own * Science Museum, South Kensington, London SW7 2DD.

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