The Age of Wonder by Richard Holmes
Shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize and winner of the Royal Society Prize for Science Books, Richard Holmess dazzling portrait of the age of great scientific discovery is a groundbreaking achievement.'Exuberant.. 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... it succeeds inspiringly'' John Carey, Sunday Times
`I am a Richard Holmes addict. He is an incomparable biographer, but in The Age of Wonder, he rises to new heights and becomes the biographer not of a single figure, but of an entire unique period, when artist and scientist could share common aims and ambitions and a common language ... Only Holmes, who is so deeply versed in the people and culture of eighteenth-century science, could tell their story with such verve and resonance for our own time.' Oliver Sacks
'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
'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
Richard Holmes is the author of the prize-winning and bestselling ‘The Age of Wonder’, which was shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize and won the Royal Society Prize for Science Books (UK) and the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction (USA). He has written many other books including ‘Falling Upwards’, an uplifting account of the pioneering generation of balloon aeronauts, which was one of Time Magazine’s Top 10 Non-Fiction Books of 2013. His trilogy exploring the Romantic Biographer at work, begun with the classic ‘Footsteps’, and its companion volume ‘Sidetracks’, is now completed by ‘This Long Pursuit’. His first biography, ‘Shelley: The Pursuit’, won the Somerset Maugham Prize; ‘Coleridge: Early Visions’ won the 1989 Whitbread Book of the Year Award; ‘Coleridge: Darker Reflections’ won the Duff Cooper and the Heinemann Awards; ‘Dr Johnson & Mr Savage’ won the James Tait Black Prize. He holds honorary doctorates from the Universities of East Anglia, East London and Kingston, and was Professor of Biographical Studies at the University of East Anglia from 2001 to 2007. He is an Honorary Fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge, a Fellow of the British Academy, and was awarded the OBE in 1992. He lives in London and Norfolk with the novelist Rose Tremain.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780007149520 |
| ISBN 10 | 0007149522 |
| Title | The Age of Wonder |
| Author | Richard Holmes |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | HarperCollins Publishers |
| Year published | 2008-10-01 |
| Number of pages | 380 |
| Prizes | Short-listed for Dingle Prize 2009, Short-listed for BBC Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction 2009 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |