Literature and Science
In 1959 C. P. Snow memorably described the ‘gulf of mutual incomprehension’ which existed between ‘literary intellectuals’ and scientists, referring to them as ‘two cultures’. This volume looks at the extent to which this has changed. Ranging from the middle ages to twentieth-century science fiction and literary theory, and using different texts, genres, and methodologies, the essays collected here demonstrate the complexity of literature, science, and the interfaces between them.
Texts and authors discussed include Ian McEwan’s Saturday; Sheridan le Fanu; The Birth of Mankind; Franco Morretti; Anna Barbauld; Dorothy L. Sayers; The Cloud of Unknowing; George Eliot and Mary Wollstonecraft.
Dr SHARON RUSTON is Senior Lecturer in English at the University of Keele. CONTRIBUTORS: SHARON RUSTON, GILLIAN RUDD, ELAINE HOBBY, ALICE JENKINS, KATY PRICE, MARTIN WILLIS, BRIAN BAKER, DAVID AMIGONI
Contents
- From Popular Science to Contemplation: the Clouds of The Cloud of Unknowing, Gillian Rudd
- “Dreams and Plain Dotage”: the Value of The Birth of Mankind [1540-1654], Elaine Hobby
- Natural Rights and Natural History in Anna Barbauld and Mary Wollstonecraft, Sharon Ruston
- George Eliot, Geometry and Gender, Alice Jenkins
- On the Back of the Light Waves: Novel Possibilities in the “Fourth Dimension”, Katy Price
- Le Fanu’s “Carmilla”, Ireland, and Diseased Vision, Martin Willis
- Evolution, Literary History and Science Fiction, Brian Baker
- “The Luxury of Storytelling”: Science, Literature and Cultural Contest in Ian McEwan’s Narrative Practice, David Amigoni
Publication date: 16 August 2007 £30.00 / US$ 60.00
Hardback, 18 b/w illustrations, 256 pages
10 digit ISBN: 1843841207 / 13 digit ISBN: 9781843841203
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