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Considering science as a form of cultural discourse like literature, music, and religion, explores the contacts and affinities between scientists and humanists in 19th-century Britain. The topics include Baconian induction, romantic methodologies of poetry and science, the uniformitarian imagination and The Voyage of the Beagle, John Ruskin, Edwin Abbot, and the quintessential Victorian merging of science and literature, Sherlock Holmes. Paper edition (unseen), $22.95. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
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The Enlightenment is often either praised as the wellspring of modern egalitarianism or condemned as the cradle of scientific racism. How should we make sense of this paradox? The Color of Equality is the first book to investigate both the inclusive language of common humanity and the hierarchical language of race in Enlightenment thought, seeking to understand how eighteenth-century thinkers themselves made sense of these tensions. Using three major Enlightenment encyclopedias from England, France, and Switzerland, the book provides a rich contextualization of the conflicting ideas of equality and race in eighteenth-century thought. Enlightenment thinkers used physical features to categoriz...
What is—and what was—“the world”? Though often treated as interchangeable with the ongoing and inexorable progress of globalization, concepts of “world,” “globe,” or “earth” instead suggest something limited and absolute. This innovative and interdisciplinary volume concerns itself with this central paradox: that the complex, heterogeneous, and purportedly transhistorical dynamics of globalization have given rise to the idea and reality of a finite—and thus vulnerable—world. Through studies of illuminating historical moments that range from antiquity to the era of Google Earth, each contribution helps to trace the emergence of the world in multitudinous representations, practices, and human experiences.
A volume of essays which constitutes a major overview of the Victorian intellectual enterprise.
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In 'A Poor Man's House,' Stephen Sydney Reynolds offers a profound exploration of the intricacies of life within a working-class family. His narrative unfolds with an evocative prose that beautifully captures the nuances of poverty and the resilience found within the human spirit. This work, emerging from the early 20th century, resonates with the social realist movement, mirroring the authenticity of voices similar to those found in the novels of Thomas Hardy or Charles Dickens. Reynolds' compassionate portrayal of the characters invites readers into a world where each struggle and joy is depicted with heartrending clarity, advancing the literary tradition of social critique through intimat...
Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817–1911) was an internationally renowned botanist, a close friend and early supporter of Charles Darwin, and one of the first—and most successful—British men of science to become a full-time professional. He was also, Jim Endersby argues, the perfect embodiment of Victorian science. A vivid picture of the complex interrelationships of scientific work and scientific ideas, Imperial Nature gracefully uses one individual’s career to illustrate the changing world of science in the Victorian era. By analyzing Hooker’s career, Endersby offers vivid insights into the everyday activities of nineteenth-century naturalists, considering matters as diverse as botanical illustration and microscopy, classification, and specimen transportation and storage, to reveal what they actually did, how they earned a living, and what drove their scientific theories. What emerges is a rare glimpse of Victorian scientific practices in action. By focusing on science’s material practices and one of its foremost practitioners, Endersby ably links concerns about empire, professionalism, and philosophical practices to the forging of a nineteenth-century scientific identity.