ABSTRACT
This chapter provides the development of the Manchester scientific community, a portrait of the community as it changed during the period in which the devotees rose to prominence. Throughout the 1830s, the Mechanics' Institution, in order to survive, was broadening its goals and extending its services. At the beginning of 1842 James Joule was elected a member of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society. After 1842 Joule's scientific career shifted from a relatively private one, centering on his own laboratory and his circle of friends at the Royal Victoria Gallery, to a more public one. The annual British Association meetings were critical for the scientific health and success of the Manchester devotees. In 1881, Joseph Baxendell, another devotee, laid before the Literary and Philosophical Society a paper in which he examined the vital statistics of Southport, a town outside Manchester. Baxendell's value to the community, and his effective role in it, is better evinced by his other activities.
