{"title":"Follow the data: administering science at Edward Sabine's magnetic department, Woolwich, 1841–57","authors":"M. Goodman","doi":"10.1098/rsnr.2018.0036","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"This paper considers the transmission of magnetic observations from overseas, colonial, observatories and the removal of these data from manuscripts to become the printed results of the so-called magnetic crusade, between 1841 and 1857. The processes adopted by Edward Sabine's magnetic department at Woolwich Arsenal to cope with the accumulation of very literal masses of data are considered, as well as the politicking that attended Sabine's attempts to have this department installed within the space occupied by, and the bureaucracy of, the Board of Ordnance. The magnetic crusade was one of the largest data-collecting enterprises of the nineteenth century, and a history of its data-management processes provides an important contribution to recent attempts to historicize discussions about Big Data and perceptions of information overload.","PeriodicalId":49744,"journal":{"name":"Notes and Records-The Royal Society Journal of the History of Science","volume":"73 1","pages":"187 - 202"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4000,"publicationDate":"2018-10-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1098/rsnr.2018.0036","citationCount":"2","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Notes and Records-The Royal Society Journal of the History of Science","FirstCategoryId":"98","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1098/rsnr.2018.0036","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"HISTORY & PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 2
Abstract
This paper considers the transmission of magnetic observations from overseas, colonial, observatories and the removal of these data from manuscripts to become the printed results of the so-called magnetic crusade, between 1841 and 1857. The processes adopted by Edward Sabine's magnetic department at Woolwich Arsenal to cope with the accumulation of very literal masses of data are considered, as well as the politicking that attended Sabine's attempts to have this department installed within the space occupied by, and the bureaucracy of, the Board of Ordnance. The magnetic crusade was one of the largest data-collecting enterprises of the nineteenth century, and a history of its data-management processes provides an important contribution to recent attempts to historicize discussions about Big Data and perceptions of information overload.
期刊介绍:
Notes and Records is an international journal which publishes original research in the history of science, technology and medicine.
In addition to publishing peer-reviewed research articles in all areas of the history of science, technology and medicine, Notes and Records welcomes other forms of contribution including: research notes elucidating recent archival discoveries (in the collections of the Royal Society and elsewhere); news of research projects and online and other resources of interest to historians; essay reviews, on material relating primarily to the history of the Royal Society; and recollections or autobiographical accounts written by Fellows and others recording important moments in science from the recent past.