Frankenstein's Science: Experimentation and Discovery in Romantic Culture, 1780–1830

by Jane R. Goodall, Christa Knellwolf King

"The essays in this volume by leading writers in their fields provide new historical scholarship into areas of science and pseudo-science that generated fierce controversy in Mary Shelley's time: anatomy, electricity, medicine, teratology, Mesmerism, quackery and proto-evolutionary biology." The collection embraces a multifaceted view of the exciting cultural climate in Britain and Europe from 1780 to 1830. The collection will be an invaluable resource for students and scholars specialising in Romanticism, cultural history, philosophy and the history of science.

Genres: History, Science

240 pages, Hardcover

First published April 22, 2008

About the author

For the primatologist, see Dame Jane Goodall.

Professor Jane Goodall (b.1951) is a researcher at the Writing and Society Research Centre of Western Sydney University, Australia.

Prof Goodall has written extensively on arts in the modern era, with a special interest in the relationship between the arts and sciences. She has taught undergraduate courses and supervised research projects in relevant areas of arts history, and has conducted local history research on the Parramatta Road. Her academic publications include Artaud and the Gnostic Drama, Performance and Evolution in the Age of Darwin (winner of the Australasian Drama Studies Association’s Robert Jordan Prize), and, with Christa Knellwolf, the collection Frankenstein's Science (Ashgate, 2008), which contextualises Mary Shelley's work in contemporary scientific and literary debates. She is the author of the popular and award winning novels The Walker (2004), The Visitor (2005) and The Calling (2007). Jane's book on Stage Presence was published by Routledge in May 2008.

Reviews

[phoebe]

only read the electrical romanticism chapter from the norton edition of frankenstein. provides some good context (scientific revolution, calvinism, promethean heroism, etc.) and i like that it shows how shelley's views are consistent with her parents, wollstonecraft and godwin. also i spent half the chapter genuinely thinking this was written by THE jane goodall and wondered when the hell she had time to read and write about frankenstein if she was hanging around chimpanzees all the time

[Gabrielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Also surprisingly interesting. Written well enough to be interesting, thank goodness.