Before Einstein: The Fourth Dimension in Fin-de-Siecle Literature and Culture

Description

Before Albert Einstein proposed the concept of four-dimensional spacetime, late Victorian scientists, radical philosophers and writers were discussing the possibility of a different kind of fourth dimension. 'Before Einstein' offers the first book-length examination of the impact of pre-Relativity four-dimensional theory on literature and culture at the turn of the twentieth century.

Elizabeth Throesch received her PhD from the University of Leeds in 2007. She has published articles and book chapters on Lewis Carroll, Herbert Spencer and Charles Howard Hinton, among others.

This lively and daring book connects several socio-historical threads in late-nineteenth-century Anglo-American culture. Most importantly, how did the idea of the fourth dimension pass from the field of analytical geometry to that of fiction, psychology, and aesthetics?' -Kate Holerhoff 'English Literature in Transition 1880-1920', Vol 61, No. 3, pp. 396-399.