A01=Chris Otter
administration
architecture
Author_Chris Otter
britain
Category=NHD
Category=NHT
Category=TNKH
class
control
electricity
england
eq_bestseller
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_tech-engineering
freedom
gaslight
gasworks
gender
government
history
housing
illumination
inspection
liberalism
liberation
liberty
light
lighting
networks
nonfiction
optical engineering
perception
photometry
power
reading
science
space
surveillance
technology
transportation
urban design
urbanization
victorian
vision
visual culture
Product details
- ISBN 9780226640778
- Weight: 624g
- Dimensions: 17 x 23mm
- Publication Date: 01 Jul 2008
- Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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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 administration. He explores how light facilitated such practices as safe transportation and private reading, as well as institutional efforts to collect knowledge. And he contends that, contrary to presumptions that illumination helped create a society controlled by intrusive surveillance, the new radiance often led to greater personal freedom and was integral to the development of modern liberal society.The Victorian Eye's innovative interdisciplinary approach - and generous illustrations - will captivate a range of readers interested in the history of modern Britain, visual culture, technology, and urbanization.
Chris Otter is assistant professor of modern European history at the Ohio State University.
