The Poetics of Scientific Investigation in Seventeenth-Century England

Synopsis

This Study Examines The Way That Scientists In The 16th And 17th Centuries, Who Had Not Studied 'science' Formally, Used The Tools Of Their Literary Education To Formulate Ideas About Science And, At The Same Time, How The Remarkable 17th-century Scientific Developments Inspired Non-scientific Writers To Make New Fictions Of Discovery. Introduction -- 'a Distemper Of Learning' : The Languages Of Science -- Orlando Curioso : The Lapsarian Style Of Thomas Browne -- Equivocal Boyle And The Enamelled Telescope -- 'a Blessing In The Wilderness' : Fictions Of Polity And The Place Of Science -- Dining Out In The Republic Of Letters : The Rhetoric Of Scientific Correspondence -- The Counsel Of Herbs : Scientific Georgic. Claire Preston. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 241-272) And Index.