The Palgrave Handbook of Early Modern Literature and Science (Palgrave Handbooks of Literature and Science)

This book is about the complex ways in which science and literature are mutually-informing and mutually-sustaining. It does not cast the literary and the scientific as distinct, but rather as productively in-distinct cultural practices: for the two dozen new essays collected here, the presiding concern is no longer to ask how literary writers react to scientific writers, but rather to study how literary and scientific practices are imbricated. These specially-commissioned essays from top scholars in the area range across vast territories and produce seemingly unlikely unions: between physics and rhetoric, math and Milton, Boyle and the Bible, plague and plays, among many others. In these essays so-called scientific writing turns out to traffic in metaphor, wit, imagination, and playfulness normally associated with literature provides material forms and rhetorical strategies for thinking physics, mathematics, archeology, and medicine. Acknowledgments 6 Contents 7 Contributors 11 List of Figures 16 List of Tables 17 Introduction 18 1 18 2 21 3 27 Notes 37 Part I: Theorizing Early Modern Science and Literature 40 The Grounds of Literature and Science: Margaret Cavendish’s Creature Manifesto 41 Outline Placeholder 41 One or Several Disciplines? 41 The Grounds of Literature and Science 45 The Creature Manifesto 49 Notes 55 Bibliography 62 ‘Deductions from Metaphors’: Figurative Truth, Poetical Language, and Early Modern Science 65 Notes 80 Bibliography 85 Imaginary Voyages: The New Science and Its Search for a Vantage Point (Or: How the Imagination Was Used to Domesticate the Exotic) 87 Introduction: Arendt’s Escape 87 Galileo’s Sail to Alexandretta 89 Kepler’s Journey to the Moon 91 Hooke and Newton’s Voyage to the Center of the Earth 96 Novelty and Imagination 101 Conclusion 105 Notes 105 Bibliography 108 Francis Bacon’s Literary-Scientific Utopia 110 Notes 121 Bibliography 126 Part II: Reading Matter 129 John Donne and the New Science 130 Notes 144 Bibliography 148 God’s Game of Hide-and-Seek: Bacon and Allegory 150 Notes 167 Bibliography 171 Crafting Early Modern Readers: Galileo and His Interlocutors 174 Notes 189 Bibliography 192 Milton, the Poetics of Matter, and the Sciences of Reading 194 Notes 207 Bibliography 210 Reading Literally: Boyle, the Bible, and the Book of Nature 213 Notes 234 Bibliography 238 Communicating Medical Recipes: Robert Boyle’s Genre and Rhetorical Strategies for Print 242 Early Modern Recipe Collections: A Survey of the Genre and Related Genres 243 Genre Conventions: Recipes Versus Experimental Essays 245 ‘Printed, but Not Published’: The Politics of Vernacular Print 248 Boyle’s Rhetorical Strategies for Publicly Communicating Recipes 251 Conclusion 254 Notes 255 Bibliography 259 Part III: Pre-disciplinary Knowledges 262 The Orphic Physics of Early Modern Eloquence 263 Notes 278 Bibliography 285 Hurricanes, Tempests, and the Meteorological Globe 289 Literary Hurricanes: Nashe, Heywood, Shakespeare 292 The Sea-Venture in 1609 294 The Great Colonial Hurricane of 1635 296 St Kitts in 1638 297 The Great Storm of 1703 298 Conclusions: Classical Humanism, Native Weather-Lore, and Early Modern Science 302 Notes 304 Bibliography 307 Milton, Leibniz, and the Measure of Motion 309 I 309 II 311 III 317 Notes 322 Bibliography 324 No Joyful Voices: The Silence of the Urns in Browne’s Hydriotaphia and Contemporary Archaeology 326 The Silence of the Urns 330 Notes 335 Bibliography 338 Robert Boyle’s ‘Accidents of an Ague’ and Its Precursors 341 Historia morbi and the Personal Narrative 343 ‘My Anatomy of Myself’: Donne’s Devotions 344 ‘No Unpleasant Prospect’: Boyle’s Meditations and the Physics of Reflection 347 How Boyle Read His Donne 351 Notes 356 Bibliography 362 Poetico-Mathematical Women and The Ladies’ Diary 366 The Ladies’ Diary: Patterning and Genre 368 The Rational Aesthetics of The Ladies’ Diary 371 No Stranger to Mathematics 375 Notes 377 Bibliography 379 Curiosity and the Occult: The Ambiguities of Science in Eighteenth-Century British Literature 380 Introduction: Science and Curiosity 380 The Royal Society: Curious Men and the Legitimization of Science 381 Royal Society Oddities: Human Curiosities and the Illegitimacy of Science 384 Fringe Science: Magic, the Occult and Trickery 391 Conclusion 397 Notes 397 Bibliography 400 Part IV: Modalities 403 Medical Discourses of Virginity and the Bed-­Trick in Shakespearean Drama 404 Notes 416 Bibliography 424 ‘Angry Mab with Blisters Plague’: The Pre-­Modern Science of Contagion in Romeo and Juliet 427 With Blisters Plague 428 So Fearful Were They of Infection 429 Break to New Mutiny 431 Death-Marked 432 Poor Living Corse, Closed in a Dead Man’s Tomb! 435 Baleful Weeds and Precious-Juiced Flowers 436 Full Soon the Canker Death Eats Up That Plant 437 Notes 439 Bibliography 445 Poetic Science: Wonder and the Seas of Cognition in Bacon and Pericles 449 The Art of Knowing in Early Modern Culture 449 Bacon and the Liquid Tides of Thought 452 Pericles’s Cognitive Laboratory 457 Notes 464 Bibliography 468 A Mythography of Water: Hydraulic Engineering and the Imagination 471 Water Engines and the Imagination 473 Reimagining the Fenlands 475 Machines for Raising Water 478 Writing the Hydraulic Imagination: Dymock, Blith and Bate 479 Notes 486 Bibliography 490 Hybrid Philosophers: Cavendish’s Reading of Hooke’s Micrographia 492 Introduction 492 The Justification of the Microscope 494 The Naturalism of Micrographia 495 Hooke’s Insects as Emblems of His Approach to Nature 499 Cavendish’s Animals 500 Rethinking the Louse 503 Artless Reason or Reasoned Art 504 Notes 506 Bibliography 511 Making Worlds: Invention and Fiction in Bacon and Cavendish 514 Reinventing Invention: Bacon Versus Cavendish 515 A World of One’s Own 519 Worlds of Ideas, Worlds of Atoms, Worlds of Lights 520 Fact and Fiction 523 Notes 524 Bibliography 527 Afterword 529 Notes 535 Selected Topical Bibliography and Suggested Further Readings 539 Christopher L. Morrow 539 Bacon 545 Boyle 547 Browne 548 Cavendish 549 Cosmology 550 Donne 550 Engineering/Technology/Machines 551 Galileo 551 Hooke 552 Disciplinarity 552 Literature and Science 553 Mathematics 554 Medicine 554 Meteorology 558 Physics 559 Religion and Science 559 Foreign Language 560 Index 561 Part I. Theorizing Early Modern Science And Literature. The Grounds Of Literature And Science: Margaret Cavendish's Creature Manifesto / Liza Blake -- ‘deductions From Metaphors’: Figurative Truth, Poetical Language, And Early Modern Science / Wendy Beth Hyman -- Imaginary Voyages: The New Science And Its Search For A Vantage Point (or: How The Imagination Was Used To Domesticate The Exotic) / Ofer Gal -- Francis Bacon's Literary-scientific Utopia / Angus Fletcher. Part Ii. Reading Matter. John Donne And The New Science / Mary Thomas Crane -- God's Game Of Hide-and-seek: Bacon And Allegory / Kristen Poole -- Crafting Early Modern Readers: Galileo And His Interlocutors / Crystal Hall -- Milton, The Poetics Of Matter And The Sciences Of Reading /elizabeth Spiller -- Reading Literally: Boyle, The Bible, And The Book Of Nature / James J. Bono -- Communicating Medical Recipes: Robert Boyle's Genre And Rhetorical Strategies For Print / Michelle Dimeo. Part Iii. Pre-disciplinary Knowledges. The Orphic Physics Of Early Modern Eloquence / Jenny C. Mann -- Hurricanes, Tempests, And The Meteorological Globe / Steve Mentz -- Milton, Leibniz, And The Measure Of Motion / Shankar Raman -- No Joyful Voices: The Silence Of The Urns In Browne's Hydriotaphia And Contemporary Archaeology / Philip Schwyzer -- Robert Boyle's ‘accidents Of An Ague’ And Its Precursors / Claire Preston -- Poetico-mathematical Women And The Ladies' Diary / Jacqueline D. Wernimont -- Curiosity And The Occult: The Ambiguities Of Science In Eighteenth-century British Literature / Barbara M. Benedict. Part Iv. Modalities. Medical Discourses Of Virginity And The Bed-trick In Shakespearean Drama / Kaara L. Peterson -- 'angry Mab With Blisters Plague': The Pre-modern Science Of Contagion In Romeo And Juliet / Mary Floyd-wilson -- Poetic Science: Wonder And The Seas Of Cognition In Bacon And Pericles / Jean E. Feerick -- A Mythography Of Water: Hydraulic Engineering And The Imagination / Louise Noble -- Hybrid Philosophers: Cavendish's Reading Of Hooke's Micrographia / Ian Lawson -- Making Worlds: Invention And Fiction In Bacon And Cavendish / Frédérique Aït-touati. Howard Marchitello, Evelyn Tribble, Editors. Palgrave Handbooks -- From Front Cover. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Front Matter....Pages i-xliv Front Matter....Pages 1-1 The Grounds of Literature and Science: Margaret Cavendish’s Creature Manifesto....Pages 3-26 ‘Deductions from Metaphors’: Figurative Truth, Poetical Language, and Early Modern Science....Pages 27-48 Imaginary Voyages: The New Science and Its Search for a Vantage Point (Or: How the Imagination Was Used to Domesticate the Exotic)....Pages 49-71 Francis Bacon’s Literary-Scientific Utopia....Pages 73-91 Front Matter....Pages 93-93 John Donne and the New Science....Pages 95-114 God’s Game of Hide-and-Seek: Bacon and Allegory....Pages 115-138 Crafting Early Modern Readers: Galileo and His Interlocutors....Pages 139-158 Milton, the Poetics of Matter, and the Sciences of Reading....Pages 159-177 Reading Literally: Boyle, the Bible, and the Book of Nature....Pages 179-207 Communicating Medical Recipes: Robert Boyle’s Genre and Rhetorical Strategies for Print....Pages 209-228 Front Matter....Pages 229-229 The Orphic Physics of Early Modern Eloquence....Pages 231-256 Hurricanes, Tempests, and the Meteorological Globe....Pages 257-276 Milton, Leibniz, and the Measure of Motion....Pages 277-293 No Joyful Voices: The Silence of the Urns in Browne’s Hydriotaphia and Contemporary Archaeology....Pages 295-309 Robert Boyle’s ‘Accidents of an Ague’ and Its Precursors....Pages 311-335 Curiosity and the Occult: The Ambiguities of Science in Eighteenth-Century British Literature....Pages 337-350 Front Matter....Pages 351-373 Medical Discourses of Virginity and the Bed-Trick in Shakespearean Drama....Pages 375-375 Front Matter....Pages 377-399 A Mythography of Water: Hydraulic Engineering and the Imagination....Pages 401-422 Making Worlds: Invention and Fiction in Bacon and Cavendish....Pages 423-444 Afterword....Pages 375-375 Back Matter....Pages 445-465 ....Pages 467-488