Promotional Information

An original and compelling study of the invention of a new social role in Elizabethan England: the expert mediator. As detailed by Eric Ash, this development was determined in part by the European rivalry over commercial trade routes and colonial dominion as well as by the increasing centralization of power in England under Henry VIII and Elizabeth. Indeed, this study adds a fascinating dimension not just to accounts of centralization, but also to the story of the rise of modern science. -- Pamela Smith, Pomona College

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Note on the Text
Introduction: Expert Mediators and Elizabethan England
Chapter 1. German Miners, English Mistrust, and the Importance of Being "Expert"
Chapter 2. Expert Mediation and the Rebuilding of Dover Harbor
Chapter 3. Early Mathematical Navigation in England
Chapter 4. Secants, Sailors, and Elizabethan Manuals of Navigation
Chapter 5. Francis Bacon and the Expertise of Natural Philosophy
Conclusion: Power, Authority, and the Expert Mediator
Notes
Essay on Sources
Index

About the Author

Eric H. Ash is an assistant professor of history at Wayne State University.

Reviews

Will reopen the debates about patronage and technology in Elizabethan England and steer the conversation in productive new directions. -- Deborah E. Harkness Renaissance Quarterly This book is well researched, well written, and stimulating, and it will appeal to a wide audience. -- William J. Ashworth Technology and Culture A scholarly study, well organized and coherent... Both student and scholar will benefit from this interesting study. -- Rudolph P. Almasy Sixteenth Century Journal An important contribution... thoroughly researched and elegantly written. -- Pamela O. Long Journal of Interdisciplinary History A valuable book. -- Stephen Pumfrey Journal of Modern History