A review by jonbrammer
The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science by Richard Holmes

4.0

There are a few figures who sit squarely at the center of the British Romantic scientific revolution: Joseph Banks, William Herschel, and Humphry Davy. While Banks was more of an adventurer and advocate than a scientist, Herschel (astronomy) and Davy (chemistry) made their mark by exploring the composition of forms perceived by our senses. Herschel designed and built telescopes that could see further in the cosmos. While he made some technical breakthroughs in scanning the night sky and documenting celestial phenomena, his telescopes were better because he put in the work of polishing larger mirrors. He also had an equally brilliant and industrious assistant, his sister Caroline, who of course did not receive her due for her contribution to the field.

While Herschel gathered observational data to better understand the formation of the universe, Davy pioneered research in chemistry - along with his peers on the continent, he made great strides in our understanding of the elemental composition of the world. These "natural philosophers" were autodidacts and interdisciplinary: they were friends with Coleridge, Southey, and Wordsworth.

The author's narrative history of this period is fascinating, and he explains how some myths surrounding scientific discovery dovetail with Romantic ideals of the mind and nature, especially as found in the poetry and fiction of the Shelleys.