Twain's interest in science was very much encouraged by his marriage into the Langdon family. Livy had been studying physics and chemistry with a science prof from the college, and the whole family was reading Darwin. See my chapter on "Science Study in 1860s Elmira" in The Courtship of Olivia Langdon and Mark Twain. --skh Susan K. Harris Hall Professor of American Literature University of Kansas Author of God's Arbiters: Americans and the Philippines, 1898-1902 ________________________________________ From: Mark Twain Forum [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of K. Patrick Ober [[log in to unmask]] Sent: Wednesday, May 16, 2012 10:21 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Twain and science Along the same lines, there is a nice piece in _Microbe Magazine_ from last= year on how microbiologist Herbert Conn [author of _The Story of Germ Life= _] influenced Twain's writing, including _3,000 Years Among the Microbes_. = Through the character Huck in _Microbes_, Twain explicitly acknowledged the= influence of Conn: "In the World, when I was studying micrology (sic) unde= r Prof. H. W. Conn, we knew all these facts." The whole story from _Microbe= Magazine_ should be accessible here: http://www.microbemagazine.org/index.= php/07-2011-home/3556-herbert-conn-mark-twains-microbiologist-muse =20 Pat Ober -----Original Message----- From: Mark Twain Forum [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Kevin Mac Don= nell Sent: Wednesday, May 16, 2012 9:34 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Twain and science Twain was widely and well-read in several branches of science. He read Darw= in and reviewed a book on early man in 1871 (Figuier's PRIMITIVE MAN), whic= h he annotated in ways that indicate a close reading. He owned several book= s on astronomy -- Martin's FRIENDLY STARS, Proctor's NEW STAR ALTAS (with s= ky charts), and SIDE-LIGHTS ON ASTRONOMY by Newcomb, which he gave to a fam= ily member (the chapter about Father Hell whose discarded theories were pro= ven true centuries later caught his interest). This also brings to mind his= use of eclipses in CtY, TSA, FTE, Mysterious Stranger, Autobiography, and = Christian Science and the setting for Capt Stormfield. He gave at least fou= r books about birds to his daughters, and he owned at least four books abou= t the social lives of wasps and ants. He also owned Clodd's STORY OF CREATI= ON, Dirck's LIFE, TIMES & SCIENTIFIC LABOURS, and Gatty's PARABLES FROM NAT= URE. I own all of the books I've mentioned but I'm sure I've forgotten som= e others. Alan Gribben records many more, and the new edition of his book w= ill doubtless increase that number. Twain also read most of the magazines in which he published -- Harper's Mon= thly and Weekly, North American Review, Century, etc. These mags often incl= uded stories on science, especially Harper's Weekly, which ran frequent in-= depth stories on the latest scientific advances. Proving beyond a reasonabl= e doubt that Twain read any specific article is not easy, but he mentions h= is magazine readings in passing in his letters and sometimes wrote letters = to the editor or longer pieces in direct response to something he read in a= magazine. So, Twain was conversant in evolution, astronomy, birds, and bugs--but he c= ould talk about other things too. Kevin @ Mac Donnell Rare Books 9307 Glenlake Drive Austin TX 78730 512-345-4139 Member: ABAA, ILAB ************************* You may browse our books at www.macdonnellrarebooks.com ----- Original Message ----- From: <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Tuesday, May 15, 2012 6:24 PM Subject: Twain and science >I just finished what there is of the =3DE2=3D80=3D9CSecret History of Eddy= pus, =3D > the World Empire=3DE2=3D80=3D9D for the first time in probably 30 years. = I =3D > found it just as weird and unfocused as I remembered, but I did notice = =3D > something in it that had escaped me before: Mark Twain know a lot about = =3D > science, way more than I had realized. > > Although in Eddypus he=3DE2=3D80=3D99s usually getting his facts mixed up= =3D > (Izaak Walton for Isaac Newton, and so on), he has a very good grasp of = =3D > the development of science since the 15th century or so. His summary (p. = =3D > 360 in Fables of Man) of the changes in man=3DE2=3D80=3D99s idea of the = =3D > universe, and the demotion of Earth from the center of things to =3D > =3DE2=3D80=3D9Ca potato lost in limitless vacancy=3DE2=3D80=3D9D is excel= lent. =3D > Elsewhere he talks about spectroscopic analysis of stars to determine =3D > what elements they contain: This was cutting-edge science in 1900, and = =3D > he seems to understand it well. I wonder how many people understand it = =3D > today, more than a century later? > > On a related note, in =3DE2=3D80=3D9CWas the World Made for Man,=3DE2=3D8= 0=3D9D he =3D > talks about the millions of years it took to for evolution to produce =3D > the oyster. To start, he decides to put the Earth=3DE2=3D80=3D99s age at = 100 =3D > million years, using Lord Kelvin=3DE2=3D80=3D99s figure. The age of the p= lanet =3D > was one of the biggest scientific debates of the time; physicists sided = =3D > with Kelvin (as did Mark Twain), but geologists said the Earth had to be = =3D > billions of years old, to accommodate all the changes they were sure had = =3D > occurred. The discovery of the energy released in nuclear reactions =3D > finally solved the problem (in the geologists=3DE2=3D80=3D99 favor), so T= wain =3D > picked the wrong horse in this debate, but clearly he knew what the =3D > issues were at the time =3DE2=3D80=3D93 again, something that most people= were =3D > probably unaware of. > > Anyway, I just thought I=3DE2=3D80=3D99d mention this, since it=3DE2=3D80= =3D99s =3D > something that had never occurred to me before. I knew Twain read =3D > history and so on, but he was also very well-read in science. > > -- Bob G. > > > > ----- > No virus found in this message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 2012.0.2171 / Virus Database: 2425/5000 - Release Date: 05/15/12 >=20 ----- No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2012.0.2176 / Virus Database: 2425/5002 - Release Date: 05/16/12