ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the story of Anglo-French scientific relations during the Peace of Amiens. The Peace of Amiens ushered in a rapid restoration of direct communication channels between England and France, spurring a jump in savants’ cross-Channel correspondence volumes and travels. The story of Anglo-French scientific relations during the Peace of Amiens reveals several ways that scientific networks changed in the era of the French Revolution. De la Rue’s letter highlights the toll that the French Revolution and ensuing international war had taken on Anglo-French scientific communication. In France, the French Revolution had upended savants’ personal and vocational worlds, ushering in generational change and – as the state became the dominant patron of the French scientific community – a growing national orientation among French savants. In France, the reorganization of science during the Revolution enabled French savants to find legitimation closer to home.
