This book deals with reactions to geological discoveries in early nineteenth-century England. How did theologians cope with new scientific evidence of the antiquity of the world which was contrary to accepted biblical chronology? And what repercussions did this picture have on philosophers, poets and novelists? The first part of the book concentrates on Charles Lyell's religious and scientific views. This is followed by a study of William Buckland, Adam Segdwick and William Whewell, three clergymen who were also geologists. The last section explores the literary reception of the revolutionary discoveries of Lyell and his contemporaries.
Author(s): Jan Marten Ivo Klaver
Series: Brill's Studies in Intellectual History, 80
Publisher: Brill
Year: 1997
Language: English
Pages: 234
City: Leiden
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER ONE. THE GEOLOGICAL SETTING: THE DANGEROUS AND VISIONARY PURSUIT
PART ONE. CHARLES LYELL
CHAPTER TWO. THE PERIOD TO 1830: FROM FORMER WORLDS TO UNIFORMITARIANISM
CHAPTER THREE. "IF WE DON'T IRRITATE, WE SHALL CARRY ALL WITH US": THE FIRST VOLUME OF PRINCIPLES OF GEOLOGY
CHAPTER FOUR. PRINCIPLES OF GEOLOGY 1832-3: WORKING HARD AT NATURAL THEOLOGY
CHAPTER FIVE. MODIFIED MUD OR MODIFIED MONKEY: UNIFORMITY, PROGRESSION AND TRANSMUTATION
CHAPTER SIX. PROGRESS, EDUCATION, AND UNITARIANISM
PART TWO. THE CLERGY
CHAPTER SEVEN. WILLIAM BUCKLAND: BRIDGE-OVER-THE-WATER
CHAPTER EIGHT. ADAM SEDGWICK: HOW MUCH GOOD MIGHT HE DO?
CHAPTER NINE. ADAM SEDGWICK: THE SOBER FACTS AND THE ROGUE'S GAME
CHAPTER TEN. WILLIAM WHEWELL: LYELL'S LABOURS AND IDEAS
PART THREE. THE MEN OF LETTERS
CHAPTER ELEVEN. SWINGING MID-AIR AMONG THE PRECIPICES OF LIFE
CHAPTER TWELVE. THE WHOLE CREATION GROANETH AND TRAVAILETH TOGETHER
CHAPTER THIRTEEN. DEUS QUIDAM DECEPTOR
CHAPTER FOURTEEN. TOWARDS ABATEMENT OF THE FEVER
CONCLUSION
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX
