Science, politics and society in early nineteenth-century Ireland

This book examines the pivotal period immediately after the Irish Union from the unique perspective of the Reverend William Richardson (1740–1820). A clerical polymath, Richardson’s activities ranged from Ulster politics to international scientific debates. His private correspondence adds to our knowledge of central Ulster before and during the 1798 rebellion and provides insights into the tensions between Irish provincial science and the metropolitan scientific world. The book is based on exten