Networking: Communicating with Bodies and Machines in the Nineteenth Century (Studies in Literature and Science)

This compelling new interdisciplinary study investigates the scientific and cultural roots of contemporary conceptions of the network, including computer information systems, the human nervous system, and communications technology. Laura Otis, neuroscientist, literary scholar, and recent recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, demonstrates that the image of the network is centuries old; it is by no means a modern notion. Placing current comparisons of nerve and computer networks in perspective, Otis explores early analogies linking nerves and telegraphs and demonstrates the influence that nineteenth-century neurobiologists, engineers, and fiction writers influenced each other's ideas about communication. The interdisciplinary sweep of this book is impressive. Otis focuses simultaneously on literary works by such authors as George Eliot, Bram Stoker, Henry James, and Mark Twain and on the scientific and technological achievements of such pioneers as Luigi Galvani, Hermann von Helmholtz, Charles Babbage, Samuel Morse, and Werner von Siemens. This unique juxtaposition of physiology, engineering, and literature reveals the common thoughts shared by writers in widely diverse fields and suggests that our current comparisons of nerve and computer networks may not only enhance but shape our understanding of both neurobiology and technology. Highly accessible and jargon-free, Networking will appeal to general readers as well as to scholars in the fields of interdisciplinary studies, nineteenth-century literature, and the history of science and technology. Laura Otis is Associate Professor of English, Hofstra University. In 2000, she was awarded a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship for her interdisciplinary studies of literature and science. Her previous books include Membranes: Metaphors of Invasion in Nineteenth-Century Literature, Science, and Politics and Organic Memory: History and the Body in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries . Cover......Page 1 Copyright page......Page 5 Acknowledgments......Page 8 Contents......Page 10 Introduction: What is Communication?......Page 12 1 The Language of the Nerves......Page 22 The Metaphoric Circuit......Page 25 Real Time......Page 36 The Mechanics of the Mind......Page 40 The Language of the Nerves......Page 52 Conclusion: The Language of Communication......Page 57 2 The Metaphoric Web......Page 60 Eighteenth-Century Spiders......Page 61 The Networks of Physics......Page 64 The Networks of the Nerves......Page 66 Communication without a Net......Page 73 Networks of Nature and Culture......Page 80 Conclusion: The Risks of a Networked World......Page 89 3 The Webs of Middlemarch......Page 92 The Problem of "Influence": Eliot and Contemporary Science......Page 93 "A Good Thing": The Growth of the British Railway Network......Page 95 The Networks of Middlemarch......Page 103 The Local and the Global......Page 109 A Network of Knowledge......Page 115 A Network of Language......Page 119 Networks of Desire......Page 125 Conclusion: The Sympathetic Network......Page 128 4 The Language of the Wires......Page 131 Early Attempts to Communicate over the Wires......Page 133 The Other End of the Wire: Telegraphic Fiction in 1877......Page 144 The Struggle to Communicate: Ella Cheever Thayer's Wired Love......Page 158 The Class That Wired Everything: Henry James's "In the Cage" (1898)......Page 173 Mental Telepathy: The Society for Psychical Research......Page 191 Mental Telegraphy: The Telepathic Fictions of Mark Twain......Page 199 Bram Stoker's Communications Net......Page 205 Writing about Communicating, Communicating about Writing......Page 208 Communicating in the West......Page 212 Communicating in the East......Page 217 Telegraphy vs. Telepathy......Page 221 Parasites......Page 226 Conclusion: Wired Thoughts......Page 231 1......Page 238 2......Page 241 3......Page 245 4......Page 249 5......Page 250 6......Page 255 Bibliography......Page 260 Index......Page 272 Cover 1 Copyright page 5 Acknowledgments 8 Contents 10 Introduction: What is Communication? 12 1 The Language of the Nerves 22 The Metaphoric Circuit 25 Real Time 36 The Mechanics of the Mind 40 The Language of the Nerves 52 Conclusion: The Language of Communication 57 2 The Metaphoric Web 60 Eighteenth-Century Spiders 61 The Networks of Physics 64 The Networks of the Nerves 66 Communication without a Net 73 Networks of Nature and Culture 80 Conclusion: The Risks of a Networked World 89 3 The Webs of Middlemarch 92 The Problem of "Influence": Eliot and Contemporary Science 93 "A Good Thing": The Growth of the British Railway Network 95 The Networks of Middlemarch 103 The Local and the Global 109 A Network of Knowledge 115 A Network of Language 119 Networks of Desire 125 Conclusion: The Sympathetic Network 128 4 The Language of the Wires 131 Early Attempts to Communicate over the Wires 133 The Other End of the Wire: Telegraphic Fiction in 1877 144 5 Two Telegraphers Unhappy with Their Nerves 158 The Struggle to Communicate: Ella Cheever Thayer's Wired Love 158 The Class That Wired Everything: Henry James's "In the Cage" (1898) 173 6 A Web without Wires 191 Mental Telepathy: The Society for Psychical Research 191 Mental Telegraphy: The Telepathic Fictions of Mark Twain 199 Bram Stoker's Communications Net 205 Writing about Communicating, Communicating about Writing 208 Communicating in the West 212 Communicating in the East 217 Telegraphy vs. Telepathy 221 Parasites 226 Conclusion: Wired Thoughts 231 Notes 238 1 238 2 241 3 245 4 249 5 250 6 255 Bibliography 260 Index 272 This compelling interdisciplinary study investigates the scientific and cultural roots of contemporary conceptions of the network, including computer information systems, the human nervous system, and communications technology, demonstrating that the image of the network is actually centuries old. Networking places current comparisons of nerve and computer networks in perspective, exploring early analogies linking nerves and telegraphs and demonstrating how 19th-century neurobiologists, engineers, and fiction writers influenced each others ideas about communication. The interdisciplinary sweep of neuroscientist and literary scholar Laura Otiss book is impressive, focusing simultaneously on literary works by such authors as George Eliot, Bram Stoker, Henry James, and Mark Twain and on the scientific and technological achievements of such pioneers as Luigi Galvani, Hermann von Helmholtz, Charles Babbage, Samuel Morse, and Werner von Siemens. Networking will appeal to general readers as well as to scholars in the fields of interdisciplinary studies, 19th-century literature, and the history of science and technology. The paperback edition of the book has been updated with a preface by the author.A sophisticated but jargon-free analysis of the ways in which scientific and technological ideas created novel explanatory metaphors that also became powerful tools for understanding social and natural systems. Technology and Culture This New Interdisciplinary Study Investigates The Scientific And Cultural Roots Of Contemporary Conceptions Of The Network, Including Computer Information Systems, The Human Nervous System, And Communication Technology. Laura Otis Demonstrates That Those Roots Are Centuries Old, Not A Modern Conception. She Shows How Nineteenth-century Neurobiologists, Engineers, And Fiction Writers Influenced Each Other's Ideas About Communication. Placing Our Own Comparisons Of Nerve And Computer Networks In Perspective, Otis Explores Their Emergence In Early Analogies Linking Nerves And Telegraphs.--jacket. Ch. 1. The Language Of The Nerves -- Ch. 2. The Metaphoric Web -- Ch. 3. The Webs Of Middlemarch -- Ch. 4. The Language Of The Wires -- Ch. 5. Two Telegraphers Unhappy With Their Nerves -- Ch. 6. A Web Without Wires -- Conclusion: Wired Thoughts. Laura Otis. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [249]-259) And Index. "This new interdisciplinary study investigates the scientific and cultural roots of contemporary conceptions of the network, including computer information systems, the human nervous system, and communication technology. Laura Otis demonstrates that those roots are centuries old, not a modern conception. She shows how nineteenth-century neurobiologists, engineers, and fiction writers influenced each other's ideas about communication. Placing our own comparisons of nerve and computer networks in perspective, Otis explores their emergence in early analogies linking nerves and telegraphs."--BOOK JACKET.