Âé¶¹´«Ã½

Review: The Atmosphere of Heaven by Mike Jay

By Druin Burch

6 May 2009

Âé¶¹´«Ã½. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

The world of science at the turn of the 19th century was an exciting place to be; and nowhere more so than at the Pneumatic Institution in Bristol

(Image: Yale University Press)

WAS there a more exciting time to be in science than as the 18th century melted into the 19th? Every field teemed with possibilities, and people could excel in them all – from chemistry, geology, medicine and engineering to politics and poetry.

Mike Jay’s story focuses on at the Pneumatic Institution in Bristol, England, and his hopes that newly revealed gases, including nitrous oxide, could usher in revolutions.…

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