The Victorian eye : a political history of light and vision in Britain, 1800-1910 / Chris Otter.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Otter, Chris.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Lighting--Great Britain--History--19th century.

Lighting.

Lighting--Great Britain--History--20th century.

Lighting--Social aspects--Great Britain--History.

Lighting--Political aspects--Great Britain--History.

Optical engineering--Great Britain--History--19th century.

Optical engineering.

Visual perception.

Lighting--Social aspects.

Manners and customs.

Great Britain--Social life and customs--19th century.

Great Britain.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (x, 382 pages) : illustrations

Edition:

First edition

Other Title:

Political history of light and vision in Britain, 1800-1910

Place of Publication:

Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2008.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

During the nineteenth century, Britain became the first gaslit society, with electric lighting arriving in 1878. At the same time, the British government significantly expanded its power to observe and monitor its subjects. How did such enormous changes in the way people saw and were seen affect Victorian culture? To answer that question, Chris Otter mounts an ambitious history of illumination and vision in Britain, drawing on extensive research into everything from the science of perception and lighting technologies to urban design and government administ

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Illustrations

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Light, Vision, and Power

1. The Victorian Eye: The Physiology, Sociology, and Spatiality of Vision, 1800-1900

2. Oligoptic Engineering: Light and the Victorian City

3. The Age of Inspectability: Vision, Space, and the Victorian City

4. The Government of Light: Gasworks, Gaslight, and Photometry

5. Technologies of Illumination, 1870-1910

6. Securing Perception: Assembling Electricity Networks

Conclusion: Patterns of Perception

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [339]-363) and index.

ISBN:

9786611966126

9781281966124

1281966126

9780226640785

0226640787

OCLC:

567944008