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The thesis is an analysis of changing trends, both in the antivivisection movement and in the scientific community, with some commentary upon the impact of these changes upon government and the public. Part I deals with the historical basis of British legislation controlling animal experimentation and with current moves towards its reform while. Part II looks at the nature of animal experimentation and the search for alternatives. The work is not simply a history but those events and arguments relevant to a thorough understanding of the contemporary situation (for example, the Second Royal Commission 1906-1912) are considered in some detail. Some very recent information, much of which is drawn from unpublished sources, is included. The thesis concludes with a brief consideration of the moral status of animals.

The advancement of the natural sciences, particularly geology and biology the second half of the nineteenth century, affected traditional modes of thought concerning the origin of man, his mental and moral faculties, and his religion. My purpose in this study is to analyse the reception of this scientific movement in both Great Britain and the Arab World during the period 1860 - I950 as presented mainly in the contemporary periodicals. It deals with the impact of scientific naturalism on certain religious and moral issues and the reaction, or response, of certain writers who participated in the debate over these issues, This analysis reveals western influence on the Arab intelligentsia in terms of scientific thought and metaphysical philosophy. The thesis is divided into two sections. The first is assigned to English writers, and the second to the Arab intellectuals, A historical chapter precedes each section, Two other similar chapters appear in each section: one is assigned to the conflict between science and religion, and the other to the conflict between traditional and new concepts of morality. The concluding chapter provides a comparison between the Western and Eastern writers concerned, and underlines the consequences of the analysis. I have confined myself, in this study, to an examination of the scientific literature which appeared in Syria (including Lebanon and Palestine), Egypt, and Iraq where the impact of the West first took place. Among all evolutionary doctrines the principle of progress was the most attractive to the Arab writers, both Christians and Muslims, Although some writers rejected scientific naturalism and others advocated the complete acceptance of Western thought, the majority saw compromise between the old and the new as the key to progress. Muslim modernists suggested a new interpretation of the Quran and a return to the earliest Islamic teachings, while the Protestant writers did so concerning the Biblical doctrines.

In 1873, the British naturalist James William Helenus Trail (1851-1919) participated in the first authorized foreign commercial expedition to the Brazilian Amazon region. The exploratory mission was promoted by the "Amazon Steam Navigation Company", a British company which intended to exploit its lands in the valley of the Amazon River. Trail was commissioned to evaluate the potential of the area for timber exploitation, and to indicate additional profitable natural resources. Trail spent 17 months surveying the Amazon River and tributaries, having explored an area which extends westwards from the city of Belem to the Brazilian border with Peru. The effective logistic support provided by the Company allowed him to collect botanical and zoological material in areas not visited before by other naturalists. Trail’s collections, particularly those of plants and insects, were much praised by the various specialists who studied them and who, as a tribute to Trail, named 34 new taxa after him. When in Amazonia, Trail met the Brazilian botanist Barbosa Rodrigues, who called his attention to the diversity of Amazonian palms. Inspired by Rodrigues, Trail developed a keen interest in palm taxonomy, having described 20 new species from the copious material he collected in the region. Trail's new taxa, however, generated protests from Barbosa Rodrigues, who claimed for himself the authorship of some of the species. Trail's trip to Amazonia boosted his career in natural history, and established early in his life his reputation among the British scientific community His Amazonian collections - which include, among others groups, nearly 1,800 plant and 2,100 insect species -, together with his field observations, represent a most relevant, though largely overlooked, contribution to the historical process of the knowledge of the natural history of the region.

Drawing on material from economic, business and social history as well as history of science and technology, this study considers the relationship between science, technology and daily life by looking at food in Britain between 1870 and 1939. Food offers an interesting case study for a variety of reasons, not least its centrality to daily life. Neither the food industry itself, nor the scientific investigation of food has been studied in much detail, ensuring that this study covers new ground in both economic history and the history of science and technology. It stresses the need to draw on a variety of approaches which have been developed by historians working on a diverse range of problems in order to establish a more comprehensive understanding of the ways in which science and technology have changed daily life. This includes incorporating the insights gained from studies of British industrial research, and research in industrial laboratories more generally, with work on the relationships between science, technology and society, and with discussions of the activities of scientists and engineers themselves. While each of these different bodies of literature offers important insights which can be used in the study of science, technology and daily life, none of them seeks to address this area directly. The literature on British food history, which concentrates on dietary change is discussed and explanations for these changes analysed. Such explanations, it emerges, are rarely comprehensive, and several possible agents of change seem to have received little attention in the literature. Among these are the development of the food manufacturing industry, which produced many of the convenience foods which became a standard part of the British diet after 1870, and the role of science and scientists. This is surprising given the rapid growth of the food manufacturing industry from the mid-19th century, and the tendency of firms to employ scientists to assist in production operations. The examination of the growth and development of the food industry and the large firms which came to dominate it reveals the striking degree of similarity in their business strategies as they grew from small family owned operations to businesses employing thousands of people. The increasing use of scientists by these firms can be attributed to their need to gain control over as many aspects of their operations as possible, and the prompting of legislation, which meant that lack of attention could lead to prosecution. In the years up to 1939 most of the large food firms began to employ their own scientists, and their activities within the firm, as well as the services offered by outside consultants are given detail consideration. The foundation, growth and development of the Chemists' department at the firm of Cadburys is examined closely in an effort to explore the full range of functions of industrial scientists and their role within the firm. This includes consideration not just of research and development, but of routine work as well, and attention to the effects of the activities of scientists on other workers within the firm, and on its advertising strategy. Scientific research on food which eventually had an impact on the national diet was also funded by the government, and here the focus is on those organisations which undertook research which was aimed at that part of the food chain between primary producer and consumer. This is placed in the context of government funded food research in general, which also included agricultural and medical research. The main focus is on the Food Investigation Board of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, and the food research associations which were also under the auspices of the same body. Government funded food research of this type was much smaller in scale than that undertaken by industry itself, and involved a very different scientific approach. This study ends by considering the scientists themselves and explores the nature of the different groups which made up the British food science community, and how they interacted. It reveals the very divided nature of the British science community, and the importance of including industrial scientists in any examination of the social structure of British science during this period. At the same time it shows how these different groups were able to meet and share information, a process which benefitted industrial scientists in particular, and ensured that new scientific findings were incorporated into commercial practice.

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This thesis examines industrial change in Fife from 1790 to 1914 and the expression of change in the landscape of the county. Beginning by sketching in the background of the county as an isolated and fragmented peninsula, the first chapter goes on to discuss the distinctive character of Fife. Central to the thesis is the change in population distribution. In 1755 the south-western half of the county, held 48% of the population and now has 82% of the larger whole. The twin pillars of the nineteenth century industrial economy of Fife - coal and textiles - are then examined for their distinctive features. Questions are then posed for answer in later chapters. Chapter 2 examines some of the early published sources on the county with a view to establishing the main areas in which change occurred between the 1790s, and the 1840s. The theme of Chapter 3 is agriculture and rural industry. The following specific topics are considered in some detail - drainage and reclamation, the division of commonties, the cessation of flax culture, the nature and distribution of farm power generation and rural processing industries. Quarrying is dealt with in Chapter 4, particularly the exploitation of the meagre resources of ironstone and the plentiful supplies of limestone. A detailed study is made of the limestone industry, its seasonal nature and the community and ancillary activities which evolved at its biggest centre, the village of Charlestown. Chapter 5 is concerned with coal-mining and in particular the questions of drainage and its cost, social and working conditions in the first half of the nineteenth century, the great expansion of output at the end of the century and the population influx associated with this. The chapter concludes with a survey of the surface evidence testifying to former mining activity in the county. Industries firmly based on coal are the subject of the next chapter. These include salt-panning, ceramics, shale processing and the range of engineering activities which grew up, particularly in and around Kirkcaldy. Textiles, in effect the linen industry, are the subject of Chapter 7. Particular areas examined are the contrast between town and country spinning mills in the nineteenth century, the differences in working conditions in the mills and at the hand-loom, and the contrasting textile activities and associated architecture of Kirkcaldy and Dunfermline. The last two chapters are concerned, with transport. Chapter 8 examines the dual nature of the road network in serving local and national needs and looks at the organisation and archaeology of statute labour and turnpike roads, including a report on excavations conducted on a stretch of eighteenth century road. In the context of rail transport two attempts to break the North British monopoly in Fife are studied in detail. Chapter 9 studies transport by water; in some detail the ferry ports on Forth and Tay are studied, as well as the nineteenth century development of trading posts and the tracing of the Burnturk Canal.

In 1923 there was published the Arabic text of K. al-Muktasab an alchemical work of the thirteenth century written by al-'Iraqi, with a translation and introduction by Dr. E. J. Holmyard. Jildaki, an alchemist of the fourteenth. century, wrote his great work, Nihayat al-Talab as a voluminous commentary on K. al-Muktasab. The present thesis is an attempt to examine the contents of the Nihayat and determine its place and value in the history of Islamic chemistry. The importance of the Nihayat lies in the main in its lengthy quotations from earlier authors whose works are not now extant. It is valuable also because it gives a clear account of the more important alchemical theories and tenets prevalent among the Muslim writers of the Middle Ages. The copy of the Nihayat which I have used consists of three quarto volumes amounting altogether to 1067 pages. The account given of each volume in the present thesis is not in proportion to its size, which is almost the same for all the three volumes; an attempt has been made to exclude, as far as possible, any unnecessary repetitions, and thus the account given of the third volume is only half the size of that of the first. In the course of the Introduction a summary has been given of the theoretical and philosophical views of Jildaki; and an extensive Index has been prepared to facilitate detailed reference to the very large number of subjects mentioned in the thesis.

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