Science in the Nineteenth-Century Periodical

For the Victorian reading public, periodicals played a far greater role than books in shaping their understanding of new discoveries and theories in science, technology and medicine. Such understandings were formed not merely by serious scientific articles, but also by glancing asides in political reports, fictional representations, or humorous attacks in comic magazines. Ranging across diverse forms of periodicals, from top-selling religious and juvenile magazines through to popular fiction-based periodicals, and from the campaigning ‘new journalism’ of the late century to the comic satire of Punch, this book explores the ways in which scientific ideas and developments were presented to a variety of Victorian audiences. In addition, it offers three case studies of the representation of particular areas of science: ‘baby science’, scientific biography, and electricity. This intriguing collaborative volume sheds light on issues relating to history and history of science, literature, book history, and cultural and media studies.

• Sheds new light on the reception of scientific advances and information in the Victorian era • A collaborative book offering a variety of perspectives from some of the most eminent scholars working on Victorian science and the periodical press • Explores a broad range of periodicals

List of illustrations; Preface; 1. Introduction Gowan Dawson, Richard Noakes and Jonathan R. Topham; Part I. Genres: 2. The Mirror of Literature, Amusement and Instruction and cheap miscellanies in early nineteenth-century Britain Jonathan R. Topham; 3. The Wesleyan-Methodist Magazine and religious monthlies in early nineteenth-century Britain Jonathan R. Topham; 4. Punch and comic journalism in mid-Victorian Britain Richard Noakes; 5. The Cornhill Magazine and shilling monthlies in mid-Victorian Britain Gowan Dawson; 6. The Boy’s Own Paper and late-Victorian juvenile magazines Richard Noakes; 7. The Review of Reviews and the new journalism in late-Victorian Britain Gowan Dawson; Part II. Themes: 8. Tickling babies: gender, authority and ‘baby science’ Sally Shuttleworth; 9. Scientific biography in the periodical press Geoffrey Cantor; 10. Profit and prophecy: electricity in the late-Victorian periodical Graeme Gooday; Notes; Select bibliography; Index.

\'… fascinating book\'. Times Higher Education Supplement