The Earth on Show: Fossils and the Poetics of Popular Science, 1802-1856 9780226616704
At the turn of the nineteenth century, geology—and its claims that the earth had a long and colorful prehuman history—wa
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The Earth on Show
The Earth on Show Fossils and the Poetics of Popular Science, 1802–1856
Ralph O’Connor The University of Chicago Press | Chicago and London
r alph o’connor is lecturer in Irish-Scottish Studies in the Department of History, University of Aberdeen. He is the author of Icelandic Histories and Romances (2002) and has published articles on nineteenth-century popular science, Romantic poetry, and the mediaeval literatures of Iceland and Ireland. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637 The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London © 2007 by The University of Chicago All rights reserved. Published 2007 Printed in the United States of America 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 ISBN-13: 978-0-226-61668-1 ISBN-10: 0-226-61668-1
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data O’Connor, Ralph. The earth on show : fossils and the poetics of popular science, 1802–1856 / Ralph O’Connor p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-226-61668-1 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-226-61668-1 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Geology—Great Britain—History—19th century. 2. Geology—Social aspects—Great Britain—History—19th century. 3. Geology in literature. 4. Literature and science—Great Britain—History—19th century. 5. Literature and history—Great Britain. 6. Science—Philosophy—History—19th century. I. Title. QE13.G7035 2007 550.941⬘09034—dc22 2007028061 ⬁ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the Ameri䊊
can National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
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