Romanticism and the Sciences

This book presents a series of essays which focus on the role of Romantic philosophy and ideology in the sciences.

Andrew Cunningham (Author), Nicholas Jardine (Author)

9780521356855, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 28 June 1990

368 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.1 cm, 0.54 kg

This book presents a series of essays, each specially written by an expert in the area, which focus on the role of Romantic philosophy and ideology in the sciences, and on the role of the sciences in Romantic literature. The contributions are designed to give a systematic coverage of the whole field. They are written at a popular level; they are well illustrated; and are accompanied by suggestions for further reading suitable for undergraduates and others. Divided into four sections under the titles 'Romanticism', 'Sciences of the Organic', 'Sciences of the Inorganic', and 'Literature and the Sciences', the book discusses various themes, movements and theories, as well as individual scientists and writers (including Schelling, von Humboldt, Goethe, Ritter, Davy, Oersted, Kleist, Coleridge, and Buchner). There is an editorial introduction prefiguring some of the concerns of the books. This original collection, designed to provide a balance of literary and scientific interests for students in both humanistic and scientific disciplines and occupies an important place in a previously under-explored field.

List of illustrations
Notes on contributors
Preface
Introduction: the age of reflexion
Part I. Romanticism: 1. Romanticism and the sciences David Knight
2. Schelling and the origins of his Naturphilosophie S. R. Morgan
3. Romantic philosophy and the organization of the disciplines: the founding of the Humboldt University of Berlin Elinor S. Shaffer
4. Historical consciousness in the German Romantic Naturforschung Dietrich Von Engelhardt
5. Theology and the sciences in the German Romantic period Frederick Gregory
6. Genius in Romantic natural philosophy Simon Shaffer
Part II. Sciences of the Organic: 7. Doctors contra clysters and feudalism: the consequences of a Romantic revolution Nelly Tsouyopoulos
8. Morphotypes and the historical-genetic method in Romantic biology Timothy Lenoir
9. 'Metaphorical mystifications': the Romantic gestation of nature in British biology Evelleen Richards
10. Transcendental anatomy Philip F. Rehbock
11. Romantic thought and the origins of cell theory L. S. Jacyna
12. Alexander von Humbolt and the geography of vegetation Malcolm Nicholson
Part III. Sciences of the Inorganic: 13. Goethe, colour, and the science of seeing Dennis L. Sepper
14. Johann Wilhelm Ritter: Romantic physics in Germany Walter D. Wetzels
15. The power and the glory: Humphrey Davy and Romanticism Christopher Lawrence
16. Oersted's discovery of electromagnetism H. A. M. Snelders
17. Caves, fossils and the history of the earth Nicholas A. Rupke
Part IV. Literature and the Sciences: 18. Goethe's use of chemical theory in his Elective Affinities Jeremy Adler
19. Kleist's bedlam: abnormal psychology and psychiatry in the works of Heinrich von Kleist Nigel Reeves
20. Coleridge and the sciences Trevor H. Levere
21. Nature's book: the language of science in the American Renaissance David van Leer
22. The shattered whole: Georg Buchner and Naturphilosophie John Reddick
Index.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: general [DSB]