Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is perhaps the best-known and most widely studied literary representation of science. Yet it is by no means the only text of its time to fictionalize the latest experiments and discoveries of natural philosophers. Science was burgeoning in the years 1760-1840, revolutionising how people saw the world around them, and this extended to the literary world.
This five volume set is divided into sections by scientific discipline, each illuminating a context of current interest to literary scholars. An extensive introduction is included in the first volume giving a brief history of the development of various scientific fields - including Geology, Palaeontology, Chemistry and Physics - resumes of the central texts/discoveries and their significance, and an account of their impact on literature - and sometimes, literature's impact on science. A bibliography of major scientific works and suggestions for critical reading is also provided and the set is completed with a detailed index.
The set is divided as follows:
Volume 1:
Science and Politics; Medicine; Mesmerism; Electricity/Electro-Chemistry/Galvanism and Magnetism
Volume 2:
Chemistry; Heat and Light
Volume 3:
Astronomy; Mensuration/Instruments; Women in Science; Science and Social Change; Institutionalization; Philosophy of Science and Engineering and Technology
Volume 4:
Manufactures; Botany; Natural History and Meteorology; Exploration and the Races of Humankind: Craniology, Physiognomy, Phrenology
Volume 5:
Theories of Life; Comparative Anatomy and Geology/Palaeontology