The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science

Format:	Hardback 380 pages

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Synopsis

Richard Holmes, prize-winning biographer of Coleridge and Shelley, explores the scientific ferment that swept across Britain at the end of 18th century in his ground-breaking new biography 'The Age of Wonder'. 'The Age of Wonder' is Richard Holmes's first major work of biography in over a decade. It has been inspired by the scientific ferment that swept through Britain at the end of the eighteenth century, 'The Age of Wonder' and which Holmes now radically redefines as 'the revolution of Romantic Science'. The book opens with Joseph Banks, botanist on Captain Cook's first Endeavour voyage, stepping onto a Tahitian beach in 1769, hoping to discover Paradise. Many other voyages of discovery swiftly follow, while Banks, now President of the Royal Society in London, becomes our narrative guide to what truly emerges as an Age of Wonder. Banks introduces us to the two scientific figures that dominate the book: astronomer William Herschel and chemist Humphry Davy.Herschel's tireless dedication to the stars, assisted (and perhaps rivalled) by his comet-finding sister Caroline, changed forever the public conception of the solar system, the Milky Way galaxy and the meaning of the universe itself. Davy first shocked the scientific community with his near-suicidal gas experiments in Bristol, then went on to save thousands of lives with his Safety Lamp and established British chemistry as the leading professional science in Europe. But at the cost, perhaps, of his own heart. Holmes proposes a radical vision of science before Darwin, exploring the earliest ideas of deep time and deep space, the creative rivalry with the French scientific establishment, and the startling impact of discovery on great writers and poets such as Mary Shelley, Coleridge, Byron and Keats. With his trademark sense of the human drama, he shows how great ideas and experiments are born out of lonely passion, how scientific discoveries (and errors) are made, how intense relationships are forged and broken by research, and how religious faith and scientific truth collide.The result is breathtaking in its originality, its story-telling energy, and not least, in its intellectual significance.

Book details

Published
01/10/2008

Publisher
HarperPress

ISBN
9780007149520

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'Exuberant...Holmes suffuses his book with the joy, hope and wonder of the revolutionary era. Reading it is like a holiday in a sunny landscape, full of fascinating bypaths that lead to unexpected vistas...it succeeds inspiringly" John Carey, Sunday Times '"The Age of Wonder" gives us...a new model for scientific exploration and poetic expression in the Romantic period. Informative and invigorating, generous and beguiling, it is, indeed, wonderful' Jenny Uglow, Guardian 'This is a book to linger over, to savour the tantalising details of the minor figures..."The Age of Wonder" allows readers to recapture the combined thrill of emerging scientific order and imaginative creativity' Lisa Jardine, Financial Times 'If ever there was an argument for a biographical analysis of complex scientific and technological history, this is it...well paced and rich in detail...Heartbreaking accounts of hope and fears, ambitions and disappointments dance along the pages. Even the choice of pictures gives us new insights into old favourites...There is no dry page in this visceral, spirited and sexy account' The Times 'Richard Holmes's stellar collective biography...gives a gripping account of the scientific research that inspired a sense of wonder in poets and experimenters alike...fascinating...this beautifully crafted book deserves all the praise it will undoubtedly attract. Well-researched and vividly written The Age of Wonder will fascinate scientists and poets alike' Literary Review 'Holmes triumphantly shows the Romantic age was one of symbiosis rather than opposition...no biographer is better than Holmes at evoking the thrill of the chase...elegant ...fascinating...entrancing' Sunday Telegraph 'Exhilarating...instructive and delightful...finely observed...generous and hugely enjoyable' Daily Telegraph 'Romanticism and Science are justly reunited in Richard Holmes's new book...a revelation...thrilling' Independent "Vividly conveys the compelling fusion of art and science in the 18th century!his is a book to linger over, to savour the tantalising details of the minor figures!'The Age of Wonder' allows readers to recapture the combined thrill of emerging scientific order and imaginative creativity" Financial Times 'wonderfully engaging!Holmes brilliantly illuminates the human and subjective aspects of science-making' Scotsman "The Age of Wonder gives us!a new model for scientific exploration and poetic expression in the Romantic period. Informative and invigorating, generous and beguiling, it is, indeed, wonderful" Guardian "delicious...exuberant and thought-provoking" New Statesman Praise for Coleridge: Early Visions 'One of the greatest literary biographies ever written.' Daily Telegraph 'Dazzling. A biography like few I have ever read.' James Wood, Guardian Praise for Coleridge: Darker Reflections 'One of the greatest biographies of the century. Pure joy to read, it is a shimmering portrait of the mature artist veering between brilliance and despair' Financial Times 'This - and I can't remember ever thinking this before so strongly - is a biography to grow old with' Independent Praise for Shelley: The Pursuit 'If the art of biography was ever damned, Shelley: The Pursuit redeemed it.' New York Times Praise for Dr Johnson and Mr Savage 'As tense as a detective story and as rich as a Hogarth print, this is the work of a master-biographer.' John Carey, Sunday Times Praise for Footsteps 'This exhilarating book, part biography, part autobiography, shows the biographer as sleuth and huntsman, tracking his subjects through space and time.' Hilary Spurling, Observer 'Nothing is simple in this intricate, complicated and fascinating book, which is like a set of Russian dolls, biography containing travel-writing containing autobiography containing and so on! Holmes is indeed a biographer and a romantic in every sense.' Richard Boston, Guardian Praise for Sidetracks 'A masterful study of the human heart - his, yours, mine - demonstrating that, in the right hands, biography can be the most dazzling literary form of all.' Sara Wheeler, Daily Telegraph