Join Amazon Prime and get unlimited Free One-Day Delivery. Already a member? Sign in.

 

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
   
More Buying Choices
27 used & new from £14.61

Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science
 
See larger image
 

The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science (Hardcover)

by Richard Holmes (Author)
4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
RRP: £25.00
Price: £15.00 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save: £10.00 (40%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Gift-wrap available.

Want guaranteed delivery by Friday, July 17? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details
22 new from £14.61 3 used from £15.25 2 collectible from £25.00
Other Editions: RRP: Our Price: Other Offers:
Hardcover 5 used & new from £21.74
Paperback £9.99 £6.99

Frequently Bought Together

The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science + The Rest is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century + Bad Science
Price For All Three: £27.34

Show availability and shipping details


Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

The Rest is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century

The Rest is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century

by Alex Ross
4.4 out of 5 stars (29)  £7.49
Bad Science

Bad Science

by Ben Goldacre
4.6 out of 5 stars (143)  £4.85
Netherland

Netherland

by Joseph O'Neill
3.1 out of 5 stars (99)  £4.31
Masters and Commanders: The Military Geniuses Who Led the West to Victory in World War II

Masters and Commanders: The Military Geniuses Who Led the West to Victory in World War II

by Andrew Roberts
4.2 out of 5 stars (5)  £5.99
The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World

The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World

by Niall Ferguson
4.4 out of 5 stars (30)  £5.99
Explore similar items

Product details

  • Hardcover: 380 pages
  • Publisher: HarperPress (1 Oct 2008)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0007149522
  • ISBN-13: 978-0007149520
  • Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 16 x 5 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 1,521 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #1 in  Books > History > Other Historical Subjects > Historians > Holmes, Richard
    #1 in  Books > Biography > Historical > Britain > Georgian to Victorian: 1701-1900
    #1 in  Books > Biography > Historical > 1701-1900

Product Description

Review
‘“Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive,” Wordsworth recalled, thinking of the fall of the Bastille in 1789. But Richard Holmes's exuberant group biography celebrates the scientific revolution that preceded and outsoared the political one, changing life, the universe and everything in the last decades of the 18th century… Holmes suffuses his book with the joy, hope and wonder of the revolutionary era. Reading it is like a holiday in a sunny landscape, full of fascinating bypaths that lead to unexpected vistas. He believes that we must engage the minds of young people with science by writing about it in a new way, entering imaginatively into the biographies of individual scientists and showing what makes them just as creative as poets, painters and musicians. The Age of Wonder is offered, with due modesty, as a model, and it succeeds inspiringly’ John Carey, Sunday Times

The Age of Wonder gives us...a new model for scientific exploration and poetic expression in the Romantic period. Informative and invigorating, generous and beguiling, it is, indeed, wonderful’ Jenny Uglow, Guardian

‘vividly conveys the compelling fusion of art and science in the 18th century...this is a book to linger over, to savour the tantalising details of the minor figures...The Age of Wonder allows readers to recapture the combined thrill of emerging scientific order and imaginative creativity’ Lisa Jardine, Financial Times

‘If ever there was an argument for a biographical analysis of complex scientific and technological history, this is it...well paced and rich in detail...Heartbreaking accounts of hope and fears, ambitions and disappointments dance along the pages. Even the choice of pictures gives us new insights into old favourites...There is no dry page in this visceral, spirited and sexy account’ The Times

‘Richard Holmes's stellar collective biography...gives a gripping account of the scientific research that inspired a sense of wonder in poets and experimenters alike....fascinating...this beautifully crafted book deserves all the praise it will undoubtedly attract. Well-researched and vividly written The Age of Wonder will fascinate scientists and poets alike’ Literary Review

 ‘Holmes triumphantly shows the Romantic age was one of symbiosis rather than opposition...no biographer is better than Holmes at evoking the thrill of the chase....elegant ....fascinating...entrancing’ Sunday Telegraph

 ‘Exhilarating...instructive and delightful...finely observed...generous and hugely enjoyable’ Daily Telegraph

‘Romanticism and Science are justly reunited in Richard Holmes's new book....a revelation....thrilling’ Independent


Praise for Sidetracks
'A masterful study of the human heart - his, yours, mine - demonstrating that, in the right hands, biography can be the most dazzling literary form of all.' Sara Wheeler, Daily Telegraph

See all Product Description

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
Check the boxes next to the tags you consider relevant or enter your own tags in the field below

Your tags: Add your first tag
 

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science
75% buy the item featured on this page:
The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science 4.9 out of 5 stars (9)
£15.00
Bad Science
9% buy
Bad Science 4.6 out of 5 stars (143)
£4.85
Quantum: Einstein, Bohr and the Great Debate About the Nature of Reality
8% buy
Quantum: Einstein, Bohr and the Great Debate About the Nature of Reality 4.6 out of 5 stars (28)
£6.99
Leviathan
6% buy
Leviathan 4.8 out of 5 stars (4)
£6.29

 

Customer Reviews

9 Reviews
5 star:
 (8)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.9 out of 5 stars (9 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
59 of 70 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Comments by Michael Calum Jacques, author of '1st Century Radical'., 4 Dec 2008
This reviewer found this work to be an altogether fascinating book, scanning and encompassing a myriad of topics and even ideas "heterogeneously yoked by violence together", cemented through the sheer quality and vivacity of the author's writing merits.

Holmes has been described as 'a literary traveller'. To risk being oversimplistic, and depending on one's own standpoint, this work deals with the the embracing of scientific principles by the Romantics or, for some, nearer to Johnson's definition, the collision of the two value systems and a resultant synthesis of sorts.

Like the Romantic poets themselves, the author also presents scientific research as comprising of a world of opportunities, as a type of challenging, new expedition. Holmes draws attention to William Wordsworth's depiction of Isaac Newton as a lonesome explorer and, indeed, Holmes goes actually on to label two huge expeditions as sorts of watermarks. viz. Captain James Cook's first encircling of the world, between 1768 and 1771, and Charles Darwin's celebrated voyage and research conducted on the Beagle, between 1831 and 1836.

These selections concentrate Holmes attention on what is chronicled elsewhere as having been an intensely noteworthy span of some 60 years when science became practised by 'professionals, not merely by rich, at ease 'amateurs' who happened to have the luxury of time at their disposal. Detailed examples from the book could fill the space and time available for this review and many more. The book is quite compendious in its stated field of interest but indulges in the study of particular subjects (human and topical ones) to ensure its depth.

Of course, the impact of science in the Victorian age (and beyond) has many more facets to it that one volume could ever hope to encompass. The impact of science upon faith, for example, especially upon Christian Faith, is a subject still yearning for greater definition and delineation.

The 550+, information and anecdote clad, pages to be found within 'The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science' by Richard Holmes, come strongly commended by this reviewer. It does 'all that it says on the cover' and far, far more besides. Richard Holmes has never written better and, if you've enjoyed his previous works, you'll find this an absorbing read.

Michael Calum Jacques (author of 1st Century Radical)
Comment Comments (2) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding, 3 April 2009
By D. P. Mankin (Ceredigion, Wales) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I was given this as a Christmas present. Richard Holmes crafts a fascinating story that brings fully to life the period covered (late 18th and early 19th centuries). I was hooked from the first page as the exploits, discoveries and tribulations of Joseph Banks, William and Caroline Herschel, Mungo Park, Humphry Davy and a cast of other leading 'scientists' were woven together in a wonderful tapestry (no pun intended). Richard Holmes' prose is fluent and captivating. This is one book that really lives up to the blurb on the cover. Read it!
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
25 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A truly compelling history of science in the Enlightenment, 17 Dec 2008
By Henry Turner (Manchester, UK) - See all my reviews
I'm not a scientist. I have only a passing interest in the history of science. However, I'm c250 pages in and I am gripped. Holmes has the narrative skill of a great novelist, conjuring worlds and characters out of what could have so easily have been dry facts. Starting with Joseph Banks' experiences in Tahiti (he travelled as part of Cook's expedition), Holmes takes the reader into the mindset of the European encountering new, unknown worlds. In particular - in this case - their complex responses to the Tahitians' more open attitudes towards sex and sexuality. And that is one of the greatest strengths of the book. Whether it's dealing with Herschel and the discovery or Uranus or Davy and his lamp, The Age of Wonder is as much about the late 18th/early 19th century mind as it is about the science and scientists. Indeed, the book sees science through the eyes of the romantic movement (and a Britain in love with romanticism), so Coleridge, Keats and the Shelleys become major players in the narrative. Despite the focus on Herschel and Davy and their particular discoveries, the reader is compellingly immersed in a far wider exploration of ideas and culture in this period. The widespread excitement that scientific discovery generated is palpable and you can't help feeling that we have lost something very important in a world where science and the arts are so often perceived as near polar opposites. Wholeheartedly recommended to anyone in search of a rattling good read this Christmas, especially those who don't think that science is their pigeon.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars A great read
I share the enthusiasm of the other reviewers. My only disappointment was that I expected a little more scientific detail. Read more
Published 2 days ago by Harvey Logan

5.0 out of 5 stars A magnificent read
There are plenty books written on modern science, exploration (geographical and scientific), fledgling scientific breakthroughs, romantic poetry, human psychology and biographies... Read more
Published 3 months ago by G. van Vuuren

5.0 out of 5 stars Readable and informative.
I put this on my Christmas list as my current Open University course covers the period. It is a superb read and has certainly shed more light for me on a very important period of... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Karen Wood

5.0 out of 5 stars The Age Of Wonder
The best book I know for anyone who wishes to take a broad look at the great moment in European history when science and the intellect took over from religious superstition.
Published 5 months ago by Peter Kettle

5.0 out of 5 stars Easy to read, informative and highly entertaining
This book provides a wonderful introduction to the way people were thinking in the period covered. It shows how the "romantic" poets and the scientists were parts of the... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Anaximander

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating read
Given this book as a birthday present I started to read it as I had half an hour to kill and was immediately gripped. Read more
Published 7 months ago by ED

Only search this product's reviews



Customer Discussions

 Beta (What's this?)
This product's forum (0 discussions)
  Discussion Replies Latest Post
  No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
  [Cancel]


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums


Listmania!


Look for similar items by category


Feedback


Health & Beauty at Amazon.co.uk

Elemis Resurface and Renew Skin Care Gift Set of 4 Products
From soap to shavers, massagers to mascara, stock up on your daily essentials or truly pamper yourself.

Discover Health & Beauty

 

More From Richard Holmes

Shelley: The Pursuit

Shelley: The Pursuit by Richard Holmes

A fantastic reissue of Richard Holmes' epic biography of this most... Read more
£14.99 £11.49

 

A Close Shave

Philips Nivea Coolskin HS8060 Moisturizing Rotary Shaving System
For all types of hair removal, stay smooth with Amazon.co.uk.

Discover Shaving & Hair Removal

 

Treat Someone

Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificates--available in any amount from £5 to £500 With an Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate, you can get them what they want (even if you don't know what that is).

Learn more about Gift Certificates

 
Ad

Where's My Stuff?

Delivery and Returns

Need Help?

Your Recent History

  (What's this?)
You have no recently viewed items or searches.

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.

Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session.

Continue Shopping: Top Sellers

amazon.co.uk Amazon Home
International Sites:  United States  |  Germany  |  France  |  Japan  |  Canada  |  China
Business Programs: Sell on Amazon  |  Fulfilment by Amazon  |  Join Associates  |  Join Advantage
Customer Service  |  Help  |  View Basket  |  Your Account
About Amazon.co.uk  |  Careers at Amazon
Conditions of Use & Sale |  Privacy Notice  © 1996-2009, Amazon.com, Inc. and its affiliates