Mesmerists, Monsters, and Machines: Science Fiction and the Cultures of Science in the Nineteenth Century
A cultural history of science and science fiction

Using key canonical science fiction narratives, Mesmerists, Monsters, and Machines examines the intersection of the literary and scientific cultures of the nineteenth century. In this original and refreshing approach to the study of early science fiction, author Martin Willis maintains that science fiction was just as important in defining the culture of the nineteenth century as other critics maintain it was in shaping the twentieth century.

Mesmerists, Monsters, and Machines interrogates the cultural implications of scientific development as articulated, challenged, and reformulated by science fiction. Each chapter demonstrates that both science and fiction were vital parts of a culture of imaginative and empirical practices that were continually reacting to, arguing with, and influencing one another throughout the nineteenth century. In an engrossing narrative that cites classic science fiction texts, Willis establishes a timeline for the reader so that the cultural significance of science fiction is understood and its complexity and relevance to the nineteenth century is demonstrated.

Those interested in nineteenth-century history and literature, cultural studies, the history of science, and science fiction will welcome this addition to the scholarship.

1112437195
Mesmerists, Monsters, and Machines: Science Fiction and the Cultures of Science in the Nineteenth Century
A cultural history of science and science fiction

Using key canonical science fiction narratives, Mesmerists, Monsters, and Machines examines the intersection of the literary and scientific cultures of the nineteenth century. In this original and refreshing approach to the study of early science fiction, author Martin Willis maintains that science fiction was just as important in defining the culture of the nineteenth century as other critics maintain it was in shaping the twentieth century.

Mesmerists, Monsters, and Machines interrogates the cultural implications of scientific development as articulated, challenged, and reformulated by science fiction. Each chapter demonstrates that both science and fiction were vital parts of a culture of imaginative and empirical practices that were continually reacting to, arguing with, and influencing one another throughout the nineteenth century. In an engrossing narrative that cites classic science fiction texts, Willis establishes a timeline for the reader so that the cultural significance of science fiction is understood and its complexity and relevance to the nineteenth century is demonstrated.

Those interested in nineteenth-century history and literature, cultural studies, the history of science, and science fiction will welcome this addition to the scholarship.

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Mesmerists, Monsters, and Machines: Science Fiction and the Cultures of Science in the Nineteenth Century

Mesmerists, Monsters, and Machines: Science Fiction and the Cultures of Science in the Nineteenth Century

by Martin Willis
Mesmerists, Monsters, and Machines: Science Fiction and the Cultures of Science in the Nineteenth Century

Mesmerists, Monsters, and Machines: Science Fiction and the Cultures of Science in the Nineteenth Century

by Martin Willis

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Overview

A cultural history of science and science fiction

Using key canonical science fiction narratives, Mesmerists, Monsters, and Machines examines the intersection of the literary and scientific cultures of the nineteenth century. In this original and refreshing approach to the study of early science fiction, author Martin Willis maintains that science fiction was just as important in defining the culture of the nineteenth century as other critics maintain it was in shaping the twentieth century.

Mesmerists, Monsters, and Machines interrogates the cultural implications of scientific development as articulated, challenged, and reformulated by science fiction. Each chapter demonstrates that both science and fiction were vital parts of a culture of imaginative and empirical practices that were continually reacting to, arguing with, and influencing one another throughout the nineteenth century. In an engrossing narrative that cites classic science fiction texts, Willis establishes a timeline for the reader so that the cultural significance of science fiction is understood and its complexity and relevance to the nineteenth century is demonstrated.

Those interested in nineteenth-century history and literature, cultural studies, the history of science, and science fiction will welcome this addition to the scholarship.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780873388573
Publisher: Kent State University Press
Publication date: 05/09/2005
Pages: 288
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Martin Willis is a lecturer in English literature at the University of Glamorgen in the United Kingdom. He is co-editor of two collections of essays on science and literature, Sidelined Sciences and Victorian Literary Mesmerism, and has written journal articles for the Journal of Victorian Cultures, Victorian Review, Science Fiction Studies, Essays in Criticism, and Extrapolation.

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