The Dynamometer and the Diemenese

  • Miranda Hughes
Chapter
Part of the Australasian Studies in History and Philosophy of Science book series (AUST, volume 8)

Abstract

With these words Francois Auguste Peron (1807) set his experimental results against the conventional beliefs of the eighteenth century. His ‘actual experiments’ involved the use of a dynamometer to measure loin and hand strength. The dynamometer became the lever to overturn the cherished Enlightenment doctrine of the Noble Savage. Rejecting the long-held assumption of a natural relationship between savagery and strength, Peron claims instead that the state of savagery is inherently a state of feebleness.

Keywords

Torres Strait Islander Physical Strength Australian Academy Hand Strength Conventional Belief 
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Copyright information

© Kluwer Academic Publishers 1990

Authors and Affiliations

  • Miranda Hughes
    • 1
  1. 1.University of MelbourneAustralia

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