Abstract
In recent years, both the fields of literature and science and visual culture of science have addressed the importance of different visual and literary elements and their roles in establishing meaning and communication in science. In this article, I explore how visual and textual elements work to establish a narrative of plants in Erasmus Darwin’s The Botanic Garden (1791) and in Alexander von Humboldt’s Essai sur la géographie des plantes (1804). These two scientists employed literary and visual elements in order to construct their visions of the nature of plants in a time when the ideals of Enlightenment science gave way to a more holistic view of integrating the sciences and the arts. I, therefore, also discuss the analytical approach of integrated readings between the literary and visual elements of science.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Interdisciplinary Science Reviews |
| Volume | 42 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages (from-to) | 227-240 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| ISSN | 0308-0188 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 3 Jul 2017 |
Keywords
- Alexander von Humboldt
- Erasmus Darwin
- enlightenment
- literature and science
- romantic period
- visual culture