BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Talks.cam//talks.cam.ac.uk//
X-WR-CALNAME:Talks.cam
BEGIN:VEVENT
SUMMARY: Poet of progress: serendipity and the search for Erasmus Darwin -
  Patricia Fara (Department of History and Philosophy of Science and Clare 
 College\, Cambridge)
DTSTART:20130124T163000Z
DTEND:20130124T180000Z
UID:TALK42163@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Helen Curry
DESCRIPTION:A champion of Enlightenment progress\, Erasmus Darwin also bec
 ame a target of abuse. Energetic and sociable\, this corpulent teetotaller
  ran a successful medical practice\, was a Fellow of the Royal Society and
  a key member of the Lunar Society. Famous for his long poems on plants\, 
 technology and evolution\, Darwin envisaged a progressive universe that is
  fuelled by sexual energy and governed by natural laws rather than directl
 y by God. I relate him to two contemporary poets\, Richard Payne Knight an
 d William Jones\, who were also committed to the notion of progress but ar
 e now better known as (respectively) a theorist of landscape and a pioneer
  of linguistics. Through considering the satirical poem 'The Loves of the 
 Triangles' (1798)\, I interpret Darwin as a more significant political fig
 urehead than historians have hitherto recognised. Focussing on this aspect
  of his influence suggests a fresh interpretation of the Lunar Society as 
 a forum for social reform as much as for industrial innovation.
LOCATION:Seminar Room 2\, Department of History and Philosophy of Science
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR