The earth on show : fossils and the poetics of popular science, 1802-1856 / Ralph O'Connor.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

O'Connor, Ralph.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Geology--Great Britain--History--19th century.

Geology.

Geology--Social aspects--Great Britain--History--19th century.

Geology in literature.

Literature and science--Great Britain--History--19th century.

Literature and science.

Literature and history--Great Britain.

Literature and history.

Science--Philosophy--History--19th century.

Science.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (557 p.)

Place of Publication:

Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2007.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

At the turn of the nineteenth century, geology-and its claims that the earth had a long and colorful prehuman history-was widely dismissedasdangerous nonsense. But just fifty years later, it was the most celebrated of Victorian sciences. Ralph O'Connor tracks the astonishing growth of geology's prestige in Britain, exploring how a new geohistory far more alluring than the standard six days of Creation was assembled and sold to the wider Bible-reading public. Shrewd science-writers, O'Connor shows, marketed spectacular visions of past worlds, piquing the public imagination with glimpses of man-eating mammoths, talking dinosaurs, and sea-dragons spawned by Satan himself. These authors-including men of science, women, clergymen, biblical literalists, hack writers, blackmailers, and prophets-borrowed freely from the Bible, modern poetry, and the urban entertainment industry, creating new forms of literature in order to transport their readers into a vanished and alien past. In exploring the use of poetry and spectacle in the promotion of popular science, O'Connor proves that geology's success owed much to the literary techniques of its authors. An innovative blend of the history of science, literary criticism, book history, and visual culture, The Earth on Show rethinks the relationship between science and literature in the nineteenth century.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Acknowledgements

Abbreviations

Introduction: Science as Literature

1. Enter the Mammoth

2. William Buckland: Antiquary and Wizard

3. Lizards and Literalists

4. Lyell Steps In

5. Marketing Geology

6. Polite Science and Narrative Form

7. Time Travel and Virtual Tourism in the Age of John Martin

8. Literary Monsters

9. Scenes and Legends from Deep Time

10. Hugh Miller and the Geologic Diorama

Epilogue: New Mythologies of the Ancient Earth

Appendix: Currencies, and Sizes of Books

Works Cited

Credits

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 455-489) and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 24. Apr 2020)

ISBN:

9786611966089

9781281966087

1281966088

9780226616704

0226616703

OCLC:

476229431