Scientists and Swindlers: Consulting on Coal and Oil in America, 1820–1890 (Johns Hopkins Studies in the History of Technology)

In "Scientists & Swindlers: Consulting on Coal and Oil in America, 1820-1890", historian Paul Lucier examines the nebulous position of scientists in nineteenth century, wherein they had to promote and sell their trade in order to perform the research that interested them. Describing the professionalization of science in the nineteenth century, Lucier writes, “Science is a job, and scientists are professionals. For most of the nineteenth century, neither was true. Science had few established sources of support, and the descriptive noun scientist, a term coined in Britain in the 1830s, was rarely used in America until late in the century. Nineteenth-century men of science were becoming professionals, and the key to that process was money – money to live on and money to do science” (pg. 1). Further, “Making money doing science required initiative, luck, and no small degree of self-promotion, besides the requisite experience and expertise. In other words, nineteenth-century American men of science had to be entrepreneurs” (pg. 2). To this end, scientists sought the patronage of government or capitalists. Lucier examines patronage in three fields: coal mining and prospecting; kerosene; and petroleum mining and its role in shaping economies and nations. Lucier's writing is insightful, often witty, and sheds light on the era before professional scientists.

Thoughtful discussion of an important, but complex topic, much deeper than Daniel Yergin's "The Prize." Thoroughly explores the early confusion about the geological relationship between coal and oil. Good history of kerosene and its inventors.