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Thermodynamic Poetry Brown, Niamh (2017) Devotional cosmology: poetry, thermodynamics and popular astronomy, 1839-1889. PhD thesis. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/8230/ Copyright and moral rights for this work are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This work cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Enlighten:Theses http://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] Devotional Cosmology: Poetry, Thermodynamics and Popular Astronomy, 1839-1889 Niamh Brown MLitt. Victorian Literature, BA (Hons) English Literature and History Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Ph.D. in English Literature Submitted to the University of Glasgow School of Critical Studies College of Arts September 2016 © Niamh Brown, 30/9/16 2 Abstract The relationship between science and religion in nineteenth century Britain has been the focus of major recent interest from historians and critics, and was a source of anxiety for Victorians. This thesis uses a modified version of the ‘two-way traffic’ model used in literature and science studies, to consider a three-way exchange of ideas between science, literature and religion in the mid- and later nineteenth century. I use popular scientific treatises and religious poetry published between 1839 and 1889 to consider some of the ways in which some Victorian writers attempted to unite religious and scientific cosmologies to create an inclusive, coherent scheme in which God co-exists with scientific laws without contradiction. I argue that poetry, and particularly epic, played an important part in enabling some Victorians who were concerned about a potential incompatibility between science and religion, to explore and propose solutions to perceived conflicts. In addition to this intermediary role, poetry acts in its own right to exchange ideas, in the form of images, tropes and figurative devices, with both science and religion. I examine the poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins and James Clerk Maxwell in relation to their attitudes to thermodynamics. In terms of epic poetry, I focus upon Philip James Bailey’s Festus and Edward Henry Bickersteth’s Yesterday, Today and Forever. I also consider the popular scientific treatise and use literary analytical methods, such as close reading, to trace instances of poetic and religious allusion, and I note affinities between epic poetry and popular scientific treatises. I make case studies of The Unseen Universe by Balfour Stewart and Peter Guthrie Tait, and the very public debate between William Whewell and David Brewster on the possibility of extraterrestrial life. Nearly all of the poems and treatises on which I focus in this thesis have been understudied, especially in the field of literature and science. I aim to reposition these texts as important routes for further study in this field. In order to investigate patterns of exchange between science, religion and poetry, I focus in my thesis upon three chief cosmological questions: the future of the universe in light of Victorian understandings of the laws of thermodynamics; the presence, or not, of a divide 3 between the spiritual and earthly realms; and the existence or otherwise of extraterrestrial life. The project considers each of these questions as they are dealt with in poetry and in scientific treatises, and examines how answers to each question are developed, with each genre contributing to the development of ideas in the other. 4 Contents Abstract ......................................................................................................................... 2 Acknowledgements....................................................................................................... 5 Introduction................................................................................................................... 6 Chapter 1: Thermodynamic Poetry ............................................................................. 40 Chapter 2: The Thermodynamic Consolation of The Unseen Universe ..................... 76 Chapter 3: ‘Left in the universe alone with God’?: Whewell, Brewster and the Cosmic Plurality Debate.................................................................................. 124 Chapter 4: The Victorian Afterlife of Night Thoughts .............................................. 176 Chapter 5: Science in the Eschatological Epic ......................................................... 205 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 251 Bibliography ............................................................................................................. 254 Introduction 5 Acknowledgements This thesis is indebted to the unstinting aid, patience and advice of my supervisors, Professor Alice Jenkins and Dr Matthew Creasey. I duly acknowledge the kind assistance of the staff in the University of Glasgow Special Collections and the University of Edinburgh Centre for Research Collections. I am grateful to Tamara Ketabgian for permission to include her chapter ‘The Energy of Belief: The Unseen Universe and the Spirit of Thermodynamics’ in advance of its publication, and to R.K.R. Thornton for very generously sharing with me a personal copy of his transcription of Gerard Manley Hopkins’ mathematics and trigonometry notebook, including Thornton’s notes on it. I would like to thank my knitting circle for providing me with distraction and encouragement as necessary. I am grateful to all of my flatmates, who were very supportive and graciously tolerated me during difficult chapters. Finally, I want to thank my family for their support and enthusiasm for my studies, and for the Sunday lunches. Most importantly, I extend my sincerest gratitude to my mum, Angie, for her unconditional support, love and encouragement, and for her assistance in proofreading this thesis. Introduction 6 Introduction Overview My thesis is chiefly concerned with the ways in which poetry and science dealt with certain theological problems raised by particular developments in astronomy and energy physics. While one of the fields in which my thesis works is science and religion, it does not engage with the nebulous question of whether a conflict existed between science and religion in the nineteenth century. Each chapter examines different moments where astronomy or thermodynamics and Christianity interacted, and how poetry intervened between religion and the sciences. Often these encounters are acts of reconciliation by the author, or an explicit attempt to deny the existence of a conflict between science and religion, thereby acknowledging the possibility of such a dissonance even as they seek to dismiss it. My thesis examines the exchange of language, tropes and ideas between religious poetry and popular scientific treatises. I argue that religious poetry, and particularly epic poetry, provided a space for people perturbed by questions of science and religion to explore and come to terms with their implications. The eschatological epic could provide for the Victorians a useful place to consider the theological repercussions of new scientific discoveries. Allusion and technical vocabulary are two of the most frequent devices for including astronomy in poetic imaginings of the afterlife, and allowed poets to explore how a religious afterlife and a scientifically understood universe might interact in a cohesive fashion. In turn, poetry performed several roles in popular scientific treatises. Poetry, in the form of quotations and epigrams and allusion, as well as figurative language and other traditionally poetic devices, allowed science writers to achieve a number of rhetorical and argumentative goals. The inclusion of poetry, and especially religious poetry, provided a straightforward way for science writers to align themselves with a particular outlook, that of the poet, without writing it in so many words. Poetry often acts as an intermediary between science and religion. Introduction 7 Each of the texts I have selected are notable for their popularity or influence in the nineteenth century, and for being understudied in contemporary criticism. Each chapter is to some extent an act of recovery, as I aim to demonstrate that these epic poems and scientific treatises contribute significantly to modern understandings of nineteenth century science, literature and religion. Chronology My thesis covers a span of fifty years, from 1839-1889. This period represents the first fifty years of the lifespan of Philip James Bailey’s poem Festus, from its initial publication to its much-expanded fiftieth-anniversary edition. 1839-1889 saw several moments of peaking anxieties about the potential incompatibility of science and religion, including the publication of Origin of Species in 1859, the rising popularity of materialism and scientific naturalism, and the development of classical thermodynamics, which challenged the possibility of an eternal afterlife. Thermodynamics in particular triggered concerns about how God and an afterlife could be reconciled with an increasingly scientifically understood universe. Other developments, such as those in
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