Reprint of the original, first published in 1875. The publishing house Anatiposi publishes historical books as reprints. Due to their age, these books may have missing pages or inferior quality. Our aim is to preserve these books and make them available to the public so that they do not get lost.
A surprising number of Victorian scientists wrote poetry. Many came to science as children through such games as the spinning-top, soap-bubbles and mathematical puzzles, and this playfulness carried through to both their professional work and writing of lyrical and satirical verse. This is the first study of an oddly neglected body of work that offers a unique record of the nature and cultures of Victorian science. Such figures as the physicist James Clerk Maxwell toy with ideas of nonsense, as through their poetry they strive to delineate the boundaries of the new professional science and discover the nature of scientific creativity. Also considering Edward Lear, Daniel Brown finds the Victorian renaissances in research science and nonsense literature to be curiously interrelated. Whereas science and literature studies have mostly focused upon canonical literary figures, this original and important book conversely explores the uses literature was put to by eminent Victorian scientists.
William Boyd Dawkins was a controversial Victorian geologist, palaeontologist and archaeologist who has divided opinion as either a hero or villain. For some, he was a pioneer of Darwinian science as a member of the Lubbock-Evans network, while for others he was little more than a reckless vandal who destroyed irreplaceable evidence and left precious little for future generations to assess. In this volume, Professor Mark White provides an unbiased archaeological and geological account of Boyd Dawkins’ career and legacy by drawing on almost twenty years of research as well as his archive of published and unpublished work which places him at the centre of Victorian Darwinian science and society. White examines his work in both the field and study to provide a critical yet balanced account of his achievements and standing in relation to the field today as well as among his peers. At the heart of this book is a detailed study of the circumstances surrounding the Victorian excavations at Creswell Crags, where two celebrated finds became a cause celebre.
Wilson was a wealthy gentleman who could afford to indulge his hobby of Astronomy. He was attracted to this subject when, as a teenager, he took part in the Total Eclipse Expedition to Algeria in 1870. He set up a well-equipped private Observatory at Daramona House in Streete, County Westmeath. His contributions to Astronomy included: The first fairly accurate estimate of the temperature of the Sun's visible surface; the first photo-electric measurements of the brightness of stars; a series of superb celestial photographs with a 24-inch Grubb reflector; The first use of cinematography in solar physics; One of the first to suggest that radio-activity might keep the stars shining. The book covers all these initiatives and much more. Wilson, though he never attended university, was elected to Fellowship of the (London) Royal Society and received an honorary doctorate from Dublin University. But the book covers his family and life style, with brief biographies of his contemporary scientific colleagues. The book is well illustrated with family and astronomical photographs. It is written for the 'educated layman', and no knowledge of Astronomy (or indeed science) is required.
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