Virginia Woolf and the Discourse of Science: the Aesthetics of Astronomy Holly Henry Frontmatter More Information

Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-81297-9 - Virginia Woolf and the Discourse of Science: The Aesthetics of Astronomy Holly Henry Frontmatter More information

VIRGINIA WOOLF AND THE DISCOURSE OF SCIENCE The Aesthetics of Astronomy

Holly Henry investigates how advances in astronomy in the early twentieth century had a shaping effect on Virginia Woolf’s literature and aesthetics as well as on the work of modernist British writers including Vita Sackville-West, H.G. Wells, Olaf Stapledon, Bertrand Russell, and T.S. Eliot. The 1920s and 1930s witnessed a pervasive public fascination with astronomy that extended from the US, where Edwin Hubble in 1923 definitively determined that entire galaxies existed beyond the Milky Way, to England, where London’s intellec- tuals discussed Sir James Jeans’s popular astronomy books and the newly explored expanses of space. In re-evaluating the cultural con- text out of which modernism emerged, Henry contends that Woolf, through her own fascination with astronomy, formulated a global aesthetics that helped shape her fiction and her pacifist politics. Henry’s study includes examinations of unpublished scientific and literary archival material and sheds new light on Woolf’s texts and on recent re-evaluations of Modernism.

holly henry is Assistant Professor of English at the California State University, San Bernardino. Her research has appeared in publications in both the humanities and the sciences including contributions to Virginia Woolf in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction (2000) edited by Pamela L. Caughie and Astronomy & Geophysics: The Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society.

© in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-81297-9 - Virginia Woolf and the Discourse of Science: The Aesthetics of Astronomy Holly Henry Frontmatter More information

VIRGINIA WOOLF AND THE DISCOURSE OF SCIENCE The Aesthetics of Astronomy

HOLLY HENRY

University Printing House, Cambridge cb2 8bs, United Kingdom

Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge. It furthers the University’s mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of education, learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence.

www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521812979 © Holly Henry 2003 Th is publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2003 A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library isbn 978-0-521-81297-9 Hardback isbn 978-0-521-11987-0 Paperback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

Dedicated to Christine, Wilbur, Chip, Cherie and John

Contents

List of illustrations page viii Preface ix Acknowledgements xii List of abbreviations xiii

Introduction: Formulating a global aesthetic 1 1 Stars and nebulae in popular culture 12 2 From Hubble’s telescope to “The Searchlight” 51 3 Maps, globes, and “solid objects” 71 4 “The riddle of the universe” in The Waves 93 5 Woolf and Stapledon envision new worlds 108 6 Three Guineas: Woolf’s global vision 141

Notes 159 Bibliography 189 Index 204

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Illustrations

0.1 The Last Human Family page 4 1.1 Barclay’s lager capitalizes on eclipse 20 1.2 Punch cartoon on the 1927 solar eclipse 21 1.3 “The Eclipse” 22 1.4 Spectacular image of a galaxy from The Universe Around Us 38 1.5 Nebula in Cygnus from The Universe Around Us 40 1.6 “The Star Stuff that is Man” 45 3.1 Illustration of the earth in space 74 3.2 “The Full Earth Seen from the Moon” 75 4.1 Note page from a talk by James Jeans 95 5.1 Graphic of giant stars printed in Illustrated London News 114 5.2 Mervyn Peake illustration for The Insect Play 124

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Preface

Astronomy has been a personal passion from childhood. It was my dad who fastened a telescope with radiator hose clamps to a homemade tripod so that we could observe a lunar eclipse, or who would pause on a summer’s night to point out a passing satellite. Somehow I don’t remember what I saw through that army issue telescope our grandfather gave us, only it always being cold and that as children we were breaking the rules by staying up late. It was not exactly what I saw, but what I was inspired to dream – of other worlds whirling through space – that launched me on a career path that has culminated in the writing of this book. It is with great delight that I recognize some of the people and institutions that have made this research project possible. I wish to thank Christopher Vincent Jeans of 10 Adams Road, Cambridge, who so generously invited me to sift through his father’s very carefully kept notebooks and papers. Christopher hosted me at his home on two separate occasions, and I am greatly touched by his kind and gentle spirit. In coming to know Christopher, I feel I have glimpsed, if only in part, something of the character of his father Sir James and mother Susi. This book resulted from my graduate research directed by Susan Squier at the Pennsylvania State University. Susan invigorated the graduate program with her fascination with the interconnections of literature and science, and showed me the possibility of pursuing this interdisciplinary research. I am deeply grateful to Susan for her encouragement and inspiration, and for tirelessly reading and responding to multiple drafts of the manuscript in various stages. Lee Smolin, Robert Lougy, and Rich Doyle graciously served on my dissertation committee. Rich invited me to audit his seminars through which I came to read Haraway, Latour, Deleuze, and Guattari, and to dream about cryogenics and technologies of the future. I wish to thank The Royal Society, the Royal Astronomical Society, the BBC Written Archives Centre, the British Museum, the British Library, the British Library Newspaper Library at Colindale, King’s College, ix

x Preface Cambridge, the Huntington Library, the Beckman Institute at the California Institute of Technology, the Observatories of the Carnegie In- stitution of Washington, and the Mount Wilson Observatory for granting me access to papers and archives related to this project. I am grateful to the California State University, San Bernardino, for granting me in 2001 a course release so that I could complete final research on the manuscript, also to the Department of English at Cal State for supporting my travel to England to research materials at the British Library at Colindale, King’s College, Cambridge, and James Jeans’s private papers at the home of Christopher Jeans. I also wish to express my gratitude to the Penn State Research and Graduate Studies Office, and to the Penn State Department of English, for making possible a trip to research the James Jeans archives at The Royal Society in London, the Royal Astronomical Society in London, the BBC Written Archives Centre, and the British Library. In addition, I am deeply grateful to William L. and Josephine Berry Weiss,and the WeissGraduate Fellowship Program at Penn State University. As a Weiss Fellow, I was granted a teaching release and given opportunity to research and write most of the chapters. Through funding by the Penn State Office of International Programs and the Penn State Department of English, I presented selections of my research at the Inspiration of Astronomical Phenomena Conference (INSAP) in Malta in January 1999, and at several International Virginia Woolf conferences. Many colleagues, friends, and family members supported my research. Regarding content on astronomy and cosmology, I consulted several as- tronomers, cosmologists, and historians of astronomy, many of whom be- came personal friends. Lee Smolin graciously explained difficult concepts related to cosmology. Ray White was partly responsible for my being able to present a portion of my research at the INSAP Conferences in Malta and in Palermo, both of which were remarkable experiences. Chris Impey, Leo Connolly, and Larry Webster offered genuine conversation explain- ing astronomical phenomena, and patiently listened to me talk about this project. I wish to thank Don Nicholson, historian of the Mount Wilson Observatory, for spending two afternoons giving me a guided tour of the Observatory and talking with me about Edwin Hubble and the history of the observatory. Peter Hingley, historian of the Royal Astronomical Society in London, deserves a special note of appreciation for important insights with regard to the historical and scientific material. Many Woolf scholars answered queries related to my research. These include Stuart Clarke, Ann Banfield, Maggie Humm, Susan Squier, Mark Hussey, Jane Marcus, Pamela Caughie, Judith Killen, and so many others.

Preface xi Thanks also to my colleagues Lisa Roney, Harvey Quamen, Christina Jarvis, Julie Vedder, Fiona Paton, Pat Malay, and Carl “Pete” Ricker who read and responded to drafts of the chapters and offered provocative suggestions throughout. Robert Whitehead assisted in reproducing the illustrations. Harold and Lynne Schweizer, and Michael Payne, gave advice and encouragement. Rob Dunham and Phil Page made me believe this book would actually materialize. Lance Bush inspired me with remarkable stories of his own experiences with the NASA program, and reasons for dreaming of our human future in space. I am deeply grateful to Lance for encouraging me to attend the Space Generation Forum (SGF) in Vienna, Austria in 1999. As a result of SGF, I have had the privilege to work with a team of space professionals at the United Nations Ofﬁces in Vienna and elsewhere on issues related to the peaceful uses of outer space. I also wish to thank Richard Devon for inviting me to teach the Space Colonization course in the Science, Technology and Society Program at Penn State University. This project would not have been possible without my mother, Christine, and her endless hours of consultation and piquant suggestions for revisions. It is she who taught me to never fear failure. Wilbur, my brother, scanned science articles and quoted alternatively Shakespeare or Twain, depending on the present need. My sister, Cherie, never minded when I phoned out of sheer frustration, and patiently recalled her own delight in the wonders of literature and reading. My father, Wilbur, reminded me that writing is not so very different from more technical pursuits – it all comes down to a little detective work and some trouble-shooting. I am very grateful to Cambridge University Press, Jane Goldman, readers of the manuscript, and copy editor Sara Barnes, all of whom offered valuable suggestions. It is a delight that this book appear by the same Press that published the work of James Jeans. And most especially, I wish to thank Ray Ryan for helping me in realizing this project and for his tremendous patience in the ﬁnal preparation of the manuscript.

Acknowledgements

Excerpts from letters and papers of the James Jeans Papers archived at The Royal Society and at the home of Christopher Jeans reprinted by permission of Christopher Jeans of Cambridge. Excerpts of Jeans’s letters archived at the BBC Written Archives Centre reprinted by permission of Christopher Jeans and the BBC Written Archives Centre. Studio photograph of Virginia Woolf(c. 1927) reprinted by permission of the Mortimer Rare Book Room, Smith College. Images from James Jeans’s The Universe Around Us reproduced by permission of the Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. An excerpt from a letter by E.M. Forster to Virginia Woolf reprinted by permission of the Society of Authors as agent for the Provost and Scholars of King’s College Cambridge. An excerpt from the letters of George Ellery Hale reprinted by permission of the Institute Archives of the California Institute of Technology. Excerpts from the correspondence and memoirs of Edwin and Grace Hubble from the Edwin Hubble Papers reprinted by permission of the Huntington Library, San Marino, CA. An excerpt from Clive Bell’s letter to Saxon Sydney-Turnerheld in the Leonard Woolf Papers reprinted by permission the Huntington Library, San Marino, CA. Punch cartoons reproduced by permission of Punch Cartoon Library & Archive. An excerpt from Jill Graham’s e-mail to the VWoolf listserv is reprinted by permission of Jill Graham. Illustration by Mervyn Peake reproduced by permission of David Higham Associates. Graphic accompanying article titled “The Star Stuff that is Man” reproduced by permission of the Photo Sales Department of the New York Times Agency. Illustration titled “Measuring the Stars” reproduced by permission of the Illustrated London News Picture Library. Excerpts of correspondence between Marie Stopes and James Jeans reprinted by permission of the British Library. Excerpts of correspondence between Charles A. Siepmann and James Jeans reprinted by permission of the BBC Written Archives Centre and Christopher Jeans.

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Abbreviations

AROO A Room of One’s Own BTA Between the Acts CE Collected Essays by Virginia Woolf D The Diary of Virginia Woolf DM The Death of the Moth and Other Essays E The Essays of Virginia Woolf GR Granite and Rainbow HH A Haunted House and Other Short Stories JR Jacob’s Room L The Letters of Virginia Woolf MD Mrs. Dalloway ND Night and Day PA A Passionate Apprentice TG Three Guineas TTL To the Lighthouse TW The Waves TY The Years

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