Unmapped Countries Biological Visions in Nineteenth Century Literature and Culture

Biotechnology and human genetics are the dominant applied sciences in the twenty-first century. "Unmapped Countries" provides a critical retrospective on the nineteenth-century origins of modern biological science and their close connections with the cultural sphere. It explores the emerging cultural authority of the biological sciences during the nineteenth century, when fundamental discoveries in geology and physics dramatically destabilized the Victorian worldview. In the field of literary and cultural studies, interest in nineteenth-century biology has been substantial for the last 20 years, yet the focus has been almost exclusively on evolutionary theory, neglecting other branches of nineteenth-century biology. This collection corrects that imbalance, shedding light on other discoveries in cell biology, physiology, neurology and virology. It examines the issue of authority in science, demonstrating the social 'embeddedness' of the natural sciences, and gender issues. It also shows how scientists and creative writers drew on a common imagination as well as narrative techniques and stylistic devices; indeed, often inspired by the same subjects. This important new book, including contributions from some of the most distinguished experts in the field, demonstrates that the relation between literature, culture and biology in the nineteenth century is far more complex than habitual references to Darwin would have us believe.