The Lunar Men: The Friends Who Made the Future 1730-1810

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The Lunar Society was at the heart of what has been termed the ‘Midlands Enlightenment’ in the heart of Britain in Birmingham. They themselves had an enlightened outlook, they came together not as a political group to discuss society and the merits or otherwise of courses of actions taken by respective governments. It is interesting to reflect upon how they viewed the aristocracy, these were men whose wealth fame and fortune had by and large been made by their own honest toil. They wanted to see the power of the landed gentry and indeed the church reduced. They wanted ordinary people to be given the opportunity to flourish as entrepreneurs. All of course probably reflecting their own positions.

The Society has recently launched a Midlands Lunar Trail which explores the Midlands connections of the original group. Can you imagine being in a room with these makers of the Industrial Revolution who were genuinely asking how to improve their world? Historian Jacob Bronowski looks at the Lunar Society and says, What ran through it was a simple faith: the good life is more than material decency, but the good life must be based on material decency. This was no esoteric, academic, other wordly gathering of people. These fine minds came together to apply their knowledge or the knowledge of others to the newly emerging industrial and manufacturing world. They knew they and Britain were on the cusp of momentous change and they wanted to harness it for the good of mankind. They saw the Industrial Revolution as an opportunity to do a great deal of good for a great number of people. By pulling together all the threads they believed that everyone could benefit from a more enlightened society brought about by the sharing and application of brilliant ideas and processes.

of all the provincial philosophical societies it was the most important, perhaps because it was not merely provincial. All the world came to Soho to meet Boulton, Watt or Small, who were acquainted with the leading men of Science throughout Europe and America. Its essential sociability meant that any might be invited to attend its meetings." [23] Development [ edit ] Origins 1755–1765 [ edit ] Erasmus Darwin by Joseph Wright of Derby, 1770 ( Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery)

I'm John Lienhard, at the University of Houston, where we're interested in the way inventive minds work. Ben Franklin had helped to set the pattern very early in the game. His life was centered both on revolution and on tying scientific knowledge to practical social change. And The American Philosophical Society started out as his study group. The nature of the group was to change significantly with the move to Birmingham in 1765 of the Scottish physician William Small, who had been Professor of Natural Philosophy at The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. There he had taught and been a major influence over Thomas Jefferson, and had formed the focus of a local group of intellectuals. His arrival with a letter of introduction to Matthew Boulton from Benjamin Franklin was to have a galvanising effect on the existing circle, which began to explicitly identify itself as a group and actively started to attract new members. [29] Today, let's drop in on a remarkable gathering. The University of Houston's College of Engineering presents this series about the machines that make our civilization run, and the people whose ingenuity created them. What ran through it was a simple faith: the good life is more than material decency, but the good life must be based on material decency.

The aims of the Lunar Society.

James Watt (1736 – 1819), of Boulton and Watt, developed the world beating steam engines that provided the power for the new factories that were springing up across the country. The Lunar Society, in collaboration with specialist solicitors VWV, has drawn together a varied panel to celebrate the way that the car and other forms of transport have shaped Birmingham and the West Midlands, and to explore the changes required to deliver mobility and urban wellbeing in years to come. In April (2022) the Lunar Society received National Lottery Heritage Funding for a 2-year project to explore and celebrate what the original Lunar Society of Birmingham gave to the world, and what the world – and citizens of the Commonwealth in particular – has given to Birmingham.