The Poetry of John Tyndall

Edited by Roland Jackson, Nicola Jackson, and Daniel Brown

ISBN: 9781787359109

Publication: October 12, 2020

Series: Comparative Literature and Culture

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John Tyndall (1822–1893) is best known as a leading natural philosopher and trenchant public intellectual of the Victorian age. He discovered the physical basis of the greenhouse effect, explained why the sky is blue, and spoke and wrote controversially on the relationship between science and religion. Few people were aware that he also wrote poetry. The Poetry of John Tyndall contains his 76 extant poems, the majority of which have not been transcribed or published before, and are succinctly annotated in a style similar to that used for the letters published in The Correspondence of John Tyndall.

The poems are complemented by an extended introduction, which was written by the three editors together as a multidisciplinary analysis. The essay aims to facilitate readings by a range of people interested in the history of Victorian science and of Victorian science and literature. It explores what the poems can tell us about Tyndall’s self-fashioning, his values and beliefs, and the role of poetry for him and his circle. More broadly, the essay addresses the relationship between the scientific and poetic imaginations, and wider questions of the nature and purpose of poetry in relation to science and religion in the nineteenth century.

Praise for The Poetry of John Tyndall

'A great value of this collection is its comprehensiveness—all the poems are here. They should be read by Tyndall scholars alongside his journals and correspondence and by scholars of working-class poetry'
ISIS

‘This volume is a welcome addition to the recent burst of scholarly interest in the Victorian physicist John Tyndall, popularizer of science, critic of Christian theology, key contributor to climate science, and avid mountain climber. Those interested in nineteenth-century history, literature, and science will be fascinated by the new insights to be found looking at Tyndall through his poems. Readers will also appreciate the superb scholarly apparatus accompanying the poems, including an informative introduction, helpful editorial notes, and a comprehensive bibliography.’
Bernard V. Lightman, York University, Canada

Roland Jackson is Research Associate in the Department of Science and Technology Studies at UCL, and a Visiting Fellow and Trustee of the Royal Institution.

Nicola Jackson has a DPhil in behavioural neuroscience from Oxford University. Her poetry has been published in journals and newspapers.

Daniel Brown is Professor of English at the University of Southampton.

Notes on Contributors
Acknowledgements
Editorial principles and abbreviations
Poetry in context
John Tyndall: The poems
Select Bibliography
Subject Index
Index of Names