Strange Science : Investigating the Limits of Knowledge in the Victorian Age / Lara P. Karpenko, Shalyn Claggett.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Karpenko, Lara Pauline, editor.

Claggett, Shalyn R., editor.

Michigan Publishing (University of Michigan), publisher.

Language:

English

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (304 pages) : illustrations, figures, tables

Other Title:

Strange Science, Investigating the Limits of Knowledge in the Victorian Age

Place of Publication:

Ann Arbor : University of Michigan Press, c2017.

System Details:

text file

Summary:

Strange Science: Investigating the Limits of Knowledge in the Victorian Age is an unprecedented collection that examines marginal, fringe, and unconventional forms of scientific inquiry, as well as their cultural representations in the Victorian period. Although now relegated to the category of the pseudoscientific, fields like mesmerism and psychical research captured the imagination of the Victorian public. Conversely, many branches of science that we now view as uncontroversial, such as physics and botany, were often associated with unorthodox methods of inquiry. Whether incorporated into mainstream scientific thought, or relegated by 21st century historians to the category of the pseudo- or even anti-scientific, these sciences generated conversation, enthusiasm, and controversy within Victorian society.

Contents:

Part I Strange Plants: New Frontiers in the Natural World

1 Victorian Orchids and the Forms of Ecological Society / Lynn Voskuil Voskuil, Lynn 19

2 Discriminating the "Minuter Beauties of Nature": Botany as Natural Theology in a Victorian Medical School / Meegan Kennedy Kennedy, Meegan 40

3 "A Perfect World of Wonders": Marianne North and the Pleasures and Pursuits of Botany / Narin Hassan Hassan, Narin 62

4 Killer Plants of the Late Nineteenth Century / Elizabeth Chang Chang, Elizabeth 81

Part II Strange Bodies: Rethinking Physiology

5 Reading through Deafness: Francis Gallon and the Strange Science of Psychophysics / Danielle Coriale Coriale, Danielle 105

6 Performing Phonographic Physiology / James Emmott Emmott, James 125

7 "So Extraordinary a Bond": Mesmerism and Sympathetic Identification in Charles Adams's Notting Hill Mystery / Lara Karpenko Karpenko, Lara 145

8 Immoral Science in The Picture of Dorian Gray / Suzanne Raitt Raitt, Suzanne 164

Part III Strange Energies: Reconceptualizing the Physical Universe

9 Chaotic Fictions: Nonlinear Effects in Victorian Science and Literature / Barri J. Gold Gold, Barri J. 181

10 The Victorian Occult Atom: Annie Besant and Clairvoyant Atomic Research / Sumangala Bhattacharya Bhattacharya, Sumangala 197

11 Inductive Science, Literary Theory and the Occult in Edward Bulwer-Lytton's "Suggestive" System / Anna Maria Jones Jones, Anna Maria 215

12 Psychical Research and the Fantastic Science of Spirits / L. Anne Delgado Delgado, L. Anne 236

13 The Energy of Belief: The Unseen Universe, and the Spirit of Thermodynamics / Tamara Kelabgian Kelabgian, Tamara 254.

Notes:

This title was made Open Access by libraries from around the world through Knowledge Unlatched.

Description based on information from the publisher.

ISBN:

9780472122455

Access Restriction:

Open Access Unrestricted online access