Concept
Lunar Society of Birmingham
Overview
The Lunar Society of Birmingham was a British dinner club and informal learned society of prominent figures in the Midlands Enlightenment, including industrialists, natural philosophers and intellectuals, who met regularly between 1765 and 1813 in Birmingham. At first called the Lunar Circle, "Lunar Society" became the formal name by 1775. The name arose because the society would meet during the full moon, as the extra light made the journey home easier and safer in the absence of street lighting. The members cheerfully referred to themselves as "lunaticks", a contemporary spelling of lunatics. Venues included Erasmus Darwin's home in Lichfield, Matthew Boulton's home, Soho House, Bowbridge House in Derbyshire, and Great Barr Hall.
Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).
Possible passages
Found by search and not yet checked by a person; they may only mention the idea in passing.
The which adorned and embellished as it was by Eudoxus, Aratus who had no knowledge of astronomy, but a certain poetical faculty, many years afterwards extolled in his verses. The mechanism of this sphere, however, on which the motions of the sun, moon, and those five stars which are called wandering and irregular, are shown; could not be illustrated on that solid sphere. But what appeared very admirable in this…
Marcus Tullius Cicero, The republic of Cicero
States what Lunar Society of Birmingham is.
Such was, or may well have been, the origin of society and law, which bound new fetters on the poor, and gave new powers to the rich; which irretrievably destroyed natural liberty, eternally fixed the law of property and inequality, converted clever usurpation into unalterable right, and, for the advantage of a few ambitious individuals, subjected all mankind to perpetual labour, slavery and wretchedness. It is easy…
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The social contract & discourses
The author is tied to Lunar Society of Birmingham in the knowledge graph.
[92] Our assembly room is an old hall with a great chimney and a good fire in it. On the mantlepiece are lighted up three lamps, made by Mr. Wolmar’s orders, of tin, just to catch the smoke and reflect the light.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Eloisa
The author is tied to Lunar Society of Birmingham in the knowledge graph.
Related ideas
- French Revolution
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau
- James Watt
- Josiah Wedgwood
- Meteorology
- University of Edinburgh
- Matthew Boulton
- University of Cambridge
- Thomas Jefferson
- Lord Kelvin
- Natural philosophy
- Benjamin Franklin
- Joseph Priestley
- Williamsburg, Virginia
- Erasmus Darwin
- Thomas Day (writer)
- James Keir
- William Small
- John Whitehurst
- Midlands Enlightenment
Place in the tradition
Part of British philosophy.
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