The nineteenth century was an important period for both the proliferation of "popular" science and for the demarcation of a group of professionals that we now term scientists. Of course for Ireland, largely in contrast to the rest of Britain, the prominence of Catholicism posed various philosophical questions regarding research. Adelman's study examines the practical educational impact of the growth of science in these communities, and the impact of this on the country's economy; the role of museums and exhibitions in spreading scientific knowledge; and the role that science had to play in Ireland's turbulent political context. Adelman challenges historians to reassess the relationship between science and society, showing that the unique situation in Victorian Ireland can nonetheless have important implications for wider European interpretations of the development of this relationship during a period of significant change.

This book offers a new interpretation of the place of periodicals in nineteenth-century Ireland. Case studies of representative titles as well as maps and visual material (lithographs, wood engravings, title-pages) illustrate a thriving industry, encouraged, rather than defeated by the political and social upheaval of the century. Titles examined include: The Irish Magazine, and Monthly Asylum for Neglected Biography and The Irish Farmers’ Journal, and Weekly Intelligencer; The Dublin University Magazine; Royal Irish Academy Transactions and Proceedings and The Dublin Penny Journal; The Irish Builder (1859-1979); domestic titles from the publishing firm of James Duffy; Pat and To-Day’s Woman. The Appendix consists of excerpts from a series entitled ‘The Rise and Progress of Printing and Publishing in Ireland’ that appeared in The Irish Builder from July of 1877 to June of 1878. Written in a highly entertaining, anecdotal style, the series provides contemporary information about the Irish publishing industry.