Science in wonderland : the scientific fairy tales of Victorian Britain / Melanie Keene.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Keene, Melanie, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Fairy tales--Great Britain--History and criticism.

Fairy tales.

Children's literature--History and criticism.

Children's literature.

Science in literature.

Great Britain--History--Victoria, 1837-1901.

Great Britain.

History.

Medicine in Literature.

Medical Subjects:

Medicine in Literature.

Physical Description:

xiii, 227 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some colour) ; 23 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2015.

Summary:

Dragon-Like Beasts really did once stalk the earth, tiny Fairy-Like forms inhabited forests and meadows, small monsters squirmed in drops of water: the world was indeed full of Magic... As Victorian palaeontoiogists unearthed the bones of a real 'age of monsters', and enthusiasm spread for Insect-collecting and the minute forms revealed by micro scopes, writers of children's books drew on fairy-tale characters and settings to introduce young people to the dazzling developments in science. Far from the dull conveying of facts, made famous by Dickens's character Gradgrind, a number of Victorian writers exploited the 19th-century taste for fairy tale and the supernatural as a way to inspire the young with the real magic of the world as revealed by science. Melanie Keene introduces us to these extraordinary "fairy tales of science", and to Victorian debates about education, scientific progress, and the role of fantasy. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 Once Upon a Time 21

2 Real Fairy Folk 54

3 Familiar Fairylands 82

4 Wonderlands of Evolution 110

5 Through Magic Glasses 139

6 Modern Marvels 154.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780199662654

0199662657

OCLC:

905486278