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Disciplinary culture: artillery, sound, and science in Woolwich, 1800–1850

Werrett, S; (2016) Disciplinary culture: artillery, sound, and science in Woolwich, 1800–1850. 19th-Century Music , 39 (2) pp. 87-98. 10.1525/ncm.2015.39.2.87. Green open access

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Abstract

The rise of military music around 1800 offers a suggestive context in which to examine the connections between science, music, and the military. Olinthus Gregory was representative of a community of reform-minded mathematicians and astronomers who sought to introduce greater precision and more mathematics into science, applying mathematical calculation to music and the sciences. His proposal to regulate tempo with a pendulum followed what was no doubt a familiar sight for him at the Woolwich Arsenal—the use of the pendulum by the drum-major to regulate marching music. Indeed, a number of such projects converged on Woolwich, an experimental space where new scientific and musical regimes emerged. The “calculating eye” secured authority by presenting science as objective and freed of emotions, but music's ability to evoke emotions was powerful. Thus, while music was a resource for the exact science promoted at the Arsenal, it could also threaten it.

Type: Article
Title: Disciplinary culture: artillery, sound, and science in Woolwich, 1800–1850
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1525/ncm.2015.39.2.87
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/ncm.2015.39.2.87
Language: English
Additional information: Published as Werrett, S; (2016) Disciplinary culture: artillery, sound, and science in Woolwich, 1800–1850. 19th-Century Music, 39 (2) pp. 87-98. 10.1525/ncm.2015.39.2.87. Copyright © 2015 by the Regents of the University of California. Copying and permissions notice: Authorization to copy this content beyond fair use (as specified in Sections 107 and 108 of the U. S. Copyright Law) for internal or personal use, or the internal or personal use of specific clients, is granted by [the Regents of the University of California/on behalf of the Sponsoring Society] for libraries and other users, provided that they are registered with and pay the specified fee via Rightslink® or directly with the Copyright Clearance Center (http://www.copyright.com/).
Keywords: History of Physics, Music, Olinthus Gregory, Foucault, Surveillance Studies, Royal Artillery Band, Woolwich, History of London
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Science and Technology Studies
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1470160
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