I am fascinated by the history of science and technology, and I found this long and very thoroughly researched book to be a real treat. I hadn’t realised until reading it how closely the leading lights of British science and industry were connected to each other in the late 1700s.

But close they were, and often met monthly in an informal association called the Lunar Society (because they met on nights with a full moon).

Just a list of those who came to those meetings is almost sufficient to show what an immensely talented group they were, and how much they influenced the development of technology and knowledge in that period:

ERASMUS DARWIN, grandfather of Charles Darwin, but also a hugely important figure in the intellectual world of the time. A practising medical doctor, who also made many inventions and wrote several long descriptions of the natural world in the form of poetry. His views on evolution weren’t as well grounded as those of his more famous grandson, but were nevertheless very advanced for his time.

JOSIAH WEDGEWOOD, famous for his creation of beautiful English ceramics, but also as I found out from this book, a major force in the establishment of Britain’s network of navigiable canals. His interest in developing canals came from the fact that he was sick of his beautiful pottery being broken when being transported over the terrible unmade roads of the time. On the smooth waters of a canal, his precious cargos would be far more likely to survive the journey.

JAMES WATT of steam engine fame. Watt didn’t by any means invent the first steam engine, but he developed many significant improvements which greatly increased their efficiency and power, as well as making smaller engines possible. Initially only used in mining, Watt’s more efficient engines eventually saw use in the early textile industry in Britain, which made use of his engines to drive the powered looms in factories.

MATTHEW BOULTON, prominent in manufacturing, and for a long time Watt’s business partner. I get the impression that Boulton was the optimistic, outgoing character in the partnership compared with Watt. Without Boulton, Watt may never have achieved any success.

JOSEPH PRIESTLY the chemist, the first person to isolate the gas oxygen (though he clung to the old ‘phlogiston’ theory and so called it ‘de-phlogisticated air’). I also discovered from this book that he was a prominent preacher with radical views. So radical that eventually his house and laboratory were destroyed by a mob and he eventually left England for the Americas.

As well as these five, there were at least seven other men prominent in the Lunar Society over the years. Alas, they were all men, but their wives, sisters and daughters also played their part in the intellectual ferment of the time, and it is interesting that most of these men seemed very willing, even eager, to have their daughters as well as their sons educated.

The closeness of the relationships between these people may be indicated by the fact that Erasmus Darwin’s son married a Wedgwood daughter, and one of their sons was the more familiar Charles Darwin of evolutionary reknown.

A very interesting book, but I do need to say that I found it a difficult read as an ebook, mainly because there are so many characters and so many of their friends, acquaintances and relations mentioned that I did often find it difficult to remember who everyone was. I almost needed a ‘cheat-sheet’ or a ‘dramatis personae’ by my side. It would have been easier to cope with a paper book, I think, in that it’s very easy with a physical book to flip back and forth to scan for forgotten names and passages. So much so that, even though I now own the ebook, I think I’ll go looking for a paper copy to put on my shelf.

Highly recommended if you are at all interested in the history of technology. ( )

I loved this book, a fascinating account of the community of non-conformists whose energy and imagination fueled the industrial revolution. ( )

I really enjoyed this book about the men (including Matthew Boulton, James Watt, Erasmus Darwin and Josiah Wedgwood) who formed the Lunar Society in Birmingham in the second half of the 18th century, devoted to learning of all aspects of natural philosophy and for conducting experiments, whilst alongside each of them was pursuing an industrious life and career in ways that made the world a little more modern. ( )

Darwin's support of Beddoes and work on Zoonomia let him envisage the improvement of society through medicine, rather than politics. Most of his work was serious; some of it was fun, like his correspondence with Tom Wedgewood on making an air bed. ('He thinks feathers always stink', Darwin told Watt with amusement, 'and wishes to rest on clouds, like the Gods and Goddesses, which you see sprawling on ceilings.')

The second half of the eighteenth century was a ferment of invention and the Lunar Society of Birmingham, a group whose members were mostly Midlands and Lowland Scots, was in the thick of it. Members included engineers, manufacturers, potters, chemists and doctors, but their scientific and entrepreneurial interests were varied and overlapping. They competed and collaborated, and urged each other onwards. They went into business together, their sons and daughters married each other, and their friendships were lifelong, excepting the relationship between William Withering and Erasmus Darwin, which was irreparably damaged by accusations of plagiarism.

A well-written and engrossing tale, of pumping engines, porcelain and patent infringements, canals, caves and chemistry, mining, manufacturing and minting, botanical taxonomy and balloons. ( )

England in the late 18th Century was surely a crucible for the transformation of our world, and the group that Uglow sketches were leaders. What's wonderful about this book is not so much the depth of investigation into any particular person or topic, but the network of people and topics that gives a sense of how the world was changing.

Watt's improvements to steam engines let them extend the range of their application beyond pumping water to turning shafts to drive mills to grind grain, spin cotton, etc. There was a frenzy to catalog minerals and plants. Chemistry was transformed as different types of gases were discovered and classified.

Uglow covers a wide range of such discoveries and inventions, painting in the political and economic landscape that the creative geniuses had to work with.

What I found most remarkable - maybe it's just because it was at the end of the book, so it's freshest in my mind - was the transformation in the political landscape brought about by the French Revolution. Priestey's house was burned down by a reactionary mob and he ended up fleeing to America.

That's a remarkable feature of history. The stream of trouble is never ending but constantly shifting. If you're lucky enough to figure out how to crack a problem or two, it just earns you the opportunity to confront new challenges from whole other directions.

Uglow's book was a fascinating portrait of a time and place that have had a huge impact on history and our world today. ( )