Science and the Public 345man.”^19 In this intellectual atmosphere whoever could lay claim to speak
on behalf of science could present themselves as authoritative leaders who
knew how to understand the larger signifi cance of modern science. Sci-
entifi c naturalists often asserted their authority beyond the domain of
knowledge of the natural world. Clifford denied that science pertained
merely to thought about scientifi c subjects with long names. “There are
no scientifi c subjects,” he insisted. “The subject of science is the human
universe; that is to say, everything that is, or has been, or may be related to
man.”^20 Scientifi c naturalists put forward new interpretations of man, na-
ture, and society derived from theories, methods, and categories of empiri-
cal science. This cluster of ideas and attitudes was naturalistic in the sense
that it would permit no recourse to causes not empirically observable in
nature, and scientifi c because it drew on three major mid- nineteenth-
century theories: the atomic theory of matter, the conservation of energy,
and evolution. In his essay “The Progress of Science” (1887), Huxley re-
ferred to these theories as “three great products of our time,” which proved
that “our epoch can produce achievements in physical science of greater
moment than any other has to show.” Huxley believed that the “peculiar
merit of our epoch is that it has shown how these hypotheses connect a
vast number of seemingly independent partial generalisations; that it has
given them that precision of expression which is necessary for their exact
verifi cation; and that it has practically proved their value as guides to the
discovery of new truth.” Since these three theories were “intimately con-
nected” and “applicable to the whole physical cosmos,” they provided the
basis for a comprehensive view of the world.^21 Scientifi c naturalists often
presented themselves as the cultural elite best equipped to guide Britain as
it was being transformed into a modern, industrialized nation. Scientifi c
naturalism served the interests of sections of the new professional middle
class and provided a rationale for their leaders to wrest cultural and social
control from the Anglican- aristocratic establishment.^22
Throughout the latter half of the nineteenth century, Huxley, Tyndall,
and Spencer attempted to redefi ne the nature of British science from their
base in London. In 1864 they helped found the X- Club, whose mem-
bership included men who were to become prominent in their respec-
tive fi elds of research, including mathematicians William Spottiswoode
(1825–1883) and Thomas Archer Hirst (1830–1892), botanist Joseph
Dalton Hooker (1817–1911), chemist Edward Frankland (1825–1899),
archaeologist John Lubbock (1834–1913), and zoologist and paleontolo-
gist George Busk (1807–1886). The X- Club was a private, informal society
where the members could exchange ideas on literature, politics, and sci-
ence over dinner. For twenty years the members met once a month from