https://theses.gla.ac.uk/ Theses Digitisation: https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/research/enlighten/theses/digitisation/ This is a digitised version of the original print thesis. 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 https://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] Dickens and Science: Summaries of Contributions Related to Science in Household Words and All the Year Round with an Introduction Shu-Fang Lai A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment o f the requirements for the degree of Ph. D to the English Literature Department in The University of Glasgow 1999 ProQuest Number: 10394944 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely e v en t that the author did not send a co m p le te manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if m aterial had to be rem oved, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10394944 Published by ProQuest LLO (2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C o d e Microform Edition © ProQuest LLO. ProQuest LLO. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.Q. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 GLASGOW ; lUNl'/ERL.iŸi [WBRjmY l to ba A b stra ct ii The study is an attempt to find a reasonable basis on which to form an estimate of Dickens's knowledge of science as far as it can be seen in his two weekly journals, Household Words and All the Year Round. Some recent and influential criticism on Dickens by commentators such as George Levine, Gillian Beer and their followers, has pioneered the study of Dickens and Science, and their ideas have also been popularised by Peter Ackroyd, Dickens's major biographer currently in print. They argue or imply that Dickens's knowledge of science was considerable, and that science is part of the very form of his novels, including Bleak House, Little Dorrit, Our Mutual Friend and Great Expectations. However their assertion that Dickens's understanding o f the second law o f thermodynamics, "entropy," and Darwin's evolutionary theories in his Origin of Species (1859) have influenced his writing is highly questionable, and there is the need to examine what evidence there is for Dickens's knowledge of science in his life, letters, speeches, his library and the journals he edited. A preliminary survey of the scientific works in Dickens's library was undertaken for my M. Litt. The present study continues this work by investigating science in Dickens's journals, and by offering brief summaries of their articles on scientific subjects. An introduction discusses questions about the extent of Dickens's supervision. It looks at reasons for doubting whether it was as close as has sometimes been thought, the problems of inferring Dickens's own views on scientific subjects, mid how we can decide whether the articles reflect his personal ideas about creation, man and the universe. The introduction also looks at some of the writers who contributed scientific articles: it shows that, with few exceptions, they were journalists or laymen, and examines how they conveyed to general readers accounts of the new discoveries in astronomy, geology, chemistry and physics. The relationship between Dickens's journals and his fiction is of critical significance. This cross-boundary exploration of Dickens and his journals in relation to science aims to find a reliable methodology for studying Victorian periodicals based on actual reading of them. Acknowledgments üi I am especially grateful to Professor K. I Fielding of the University o f Edinbuigh, who has generously allowed me to stu ^ and quote some first-hand materials and given great encouragement, which is really Dickensian and unforgettable. I deeply appreciate my supervisour, Mr. David J. Newell, whose valuable advice on the style and structure o f this thesis, and whose patience and understanding, have helped me to complete my project. There are a number of scholars and colleagues who have helped me in various ways. I am indebted to my examiners Professor Andrew Sanders and Mr. Richard Cronin who gave me their most helpful suggestions and discussed with me their own approach to Dickens. I would like to thank Professor Elisabeth Arbuckle and Professor Michael Slater for their encouragement. Dr. Susan Shatto and Dr. Alice Jenkins for their enthusiastic assistance and support. I am also grateful to the help I received from the National Libraiy of Scotland. Finally I thank my parents and my husband Wei-Po Lee who are my strongest backup all the year round. Declaration iv I hereby declare that the following thesis has been composed by myself and is my own work. Shu-Fang Lai 1999 Contents Abstract page ii Acknowledgments in Declaration iv Abbreviations vi Introduction (i) Preface 1 ( ii ) About the Two Journals 3 (iii) Editorial Policy of the Summaries 5 (iv) The Aim and the Method of the Study 10 (v) Fact or Fancy?; Dickens's Supervision and Problems of Style and Content 13 (vi) W. H. Wills—the Other Hand 34 (vii) Creation, Evolution and Providential Design 49 (viii) The "Design” and Structure of the Universe: on Astronomy, Geology and Physics 72 (ix) The Magic and the Application of Science: Technology, Analytical Chemistry, Medical Science and Public Health 91 (x) Natural History 111 Conclusion 118 Summaries from Household Words 122 Summaries from AH the Year Round 267 Selected Biographical Index 380 Selected Bibliography 428 ABBREVIATIONS vi References to Dickens's novels are to the Penguin Classics edition unless otherwise stated and are cited in their abbreviated form in parenthesis in the text. AN American Notes For General Circulation, eds. John S. Whitley and Arnold Goldman (1842, London: Penguin, 1987). BH Bleak House, ed. Norman Page (1853, London: Penguin, 1985). BR Barnaby Rudge, ed. Gordon Spence (1841, London: Penguin, 1986). CB Christmas Books, ed. Michael Slater, 2 vols (1843-48, London: Penguin, 1985). DC David Copperfield, ed. Trevor Blount (1850, London: Penguin, 1985), DS:S Dombey and Son, ed. Peter Fairclough (1848, London: Penguin, 1985). GE Great Expectations, ed. Angus Calder (1860-61, London: Penguin, 1985). HT Hard Times, ed. Kate Flint (1854, London: Penguin, 1995). LD Little Dorrit, ed. John Holloway (1857, London; Penguin, 1985). MC Martin Chuzzlewit, ed. P. N. Fmbank (1844, London: Penguin, 1968). MED The Mystery of Edwin Drood, ed. Arthur J. Cox (1870, London; Penguin, 1985). NN Nicholas Nicklehy, ed. Michael Slater (1839, London: Penguin, 1978), OCS The Old Curiosity Shop, ed. Angus Easson (1841, London: Penguin, 1985). OMF Our Mutual Friend, ed. Stephen GiU (1865, London: Penguin, 1985). OT Oliver Twist, ed. Peter Fairclough (1838, London: Penguin, 1985). PP The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, ed. Robert L. Patten (1837, London: Penguin, 1986). SB Sketches by Boz (1836, Oxford Illustrated Dickens). This edition includes the Mudfog Papers. TTC A Tale of Two Cities, ed. George Woodcock (1859, London; Pei^uin, 1985). UT The Uncommercial Traveller, ed. Deborah A. Thomas (London: Penguin, 1985). ABF Archives Biographiques Françaises and Index. vii AYR All the Year Round, 1858-70. BAAS The British Association for the Advancement of Science. Boose Modern English Biography, ed. Frederic Boase. CBD Chambers Biographical Dictionary. CD Used in the footnotes in all references to Charles Dickens, DAB Dictionary of American Biography. DNB Dictionary of National Biography. DSB Dictionary of Scientific Biograplty. EB The Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th ed. HW Household Words, 1850-58. Lehmann Charles Dickons as Editor, ed. by R. C. Lehmann (London: Smith, 1912). Life John Forster, The Life of Charles Dickens, 3 vols. (London: Chapman and Hall, 1872-74). Lohrii Anne Lohrli, Household Words, A Weekly Journal 1850-59 Conducted by Charles Dickens (Toronto: University o f Toronto Press, 1973). MDCB The Macmillan Dictionary of Canadian Biography (Toronto: Macmillan, 1978). Nonesuch The Letters of Charles Dickens , the Nonesuch Dickens, ed. Walter Dexter, 3 vols. (London: Nonesuch, 1938). OED Oxford English Dictionary. Origin Darvrin, On The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life (Murray, 1859; London: Penguin, 1985). Oppeidander Ella Arm Oppenlander, Dickens' All the Year Round: Descriptive Index and Contributor List (New York: Whitston, 1984). vm Pilgrim Letters of Charles Dickens, the Pilgrim edition, 10 vols. (Oxford; Clarendon, 1965-98). Speeches The Speeches of Charles Dickens, A Complete Edition, ed. K, J. Fielding (Hertfordshire: Harvester-Wheatsheaf, 1988). Vestiges [Robert Chambers], Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation Leicester: Leicester University Press, 1969). WWW World Who's Who in Science: A Biographical Dictionary of Notable Scientists from Antiquity to the Present, ed. Allen G. Debus (Chicago: Maroguis-Who's Who, 1968). Introduction (i) Preface The subject of this thesis follows on from my M. Litt. thesis, "Dickens in Relation to Science," which examined some recent and influential criticism of Dickens by such writers as George Levine, Gillian Beer, and Ann Wilkinson. ^ Their ideas have been popularised by Peter Ackroyd, Dickens’s most recent major biographer.^ They aigue or imply that Dickens's knowledge o f science was considerable and ran far ahead o f his time.