Protestants, Catholics, and Masonic Conspiracies: The British Association in Montreal (1884).

The British Association for the Advancement of Science (BAAS), like many nineteenth-century institutions, sought to avoid controversy by excluding the discussion of political and religious topics from its proceedings. Nonpartisanship was a veneer it could hide behind. Yet during the Montreal meeting of 1884-the first time the association ventured beyond the comfortable confines of the British Isles-this "middle way" was tested.

Science, religion and the geography of speech at the British Association: William Henry Dallinger (1839-1909) under the microscope.

Since its inception in 1831, the discussion of political and religious topics had been excluded from the meetings of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BAAS) - it was a 'neutral' body. This strategy was designed to both unite men of science with differing religious views, and prevent the Association from becoming embroiled in theological disputes. Although not always successful, the dedication to neutrality remained throughout the BAAS's history and was an important organising principle.

Preaching at the British Association for the Advancement of Science: sermons, secularization and the rhetoric of conflict in the 1870s.

Much attention has been given to the science-religion controversies attached to the British Association for the Advancement of Science, from the infamous 1860 Huxley-Wilberforce debate at Oxford to John Tyndall's 1874 'Belfast Address'. Despite this, almost no attention has been given to the vast homiletic literature preached during the British Association meetings throughout the nineteenth century. During an association meeting the surrounding churches and halls were packed with men of science, as local and visiting preachers sermonized on the relationship between science and religion.